People Pleaser Trials

I’ve dowsed myself in honey for so long

Because I was at once more digestible

And more difficult to peel yourself off

But sickly sweet honey only serves

To gorge a swarming of deficient bees

Glutting their desire for an obliging meal

They run their rapacious tongues over my figure

As I offer myself unreservedly each time

Who am I to say no when someone wants to feast?

As I lay supine on the floor

Steeling my body for retribution

Sweet is torture, they whisper

They jam the nails into the soles of my feet

Sneering what’s the use of them when you stand for nothing anyway?

For all the times I tip-toed around conflict

They prise open my jaws

And unleash a searing stream of harsh truths

For all the words that I swallowed down

They splatter a tear-drop trail of acid

Burning as it trickles and festers on my shoulders

For the times a heavy head found comfort there

But they leave my eyes intact

As if to say

Can’t you see what you’ve done to yourself?