Change

One feels that something more than human power is needed to produce the essential psychic change. (Alcoholics Anonymous, Doctor's Opinion)

Nine days is a long time.
I returned today as asked
to run an errand,
an old chore of mine.
I mused that time brings change,
perhaps even there.
I'd tried to cause that change
before, by self-sacrificing,
by groveling, by going beyond
as well as by yelling and tantrums.
Still, things can change in nine days
that didn't change in the decades past.
But they didn't. Human power,
mine or his, can't cause the change.
Nine days can't work miracles.
I'm powerless over him.
I can't manage him in person or with hope.
I believe a power greater than me – or him —
can restore him to sanity, but the decision
to let it happen
is his.