train wreck

you almost think,
because it's happening
so close
around you

and in that
freeze-framed
cinematic
way, that 

there must be
something
you can do to
stop it;

the truth, which
likewise comes
in its own 
slow way,

is that 
you  cannot
save them
from themselves...

L.P. Knickerbocker
11.2.2008 (a)

for all of us
who have adult children
who are struggling...