I, a Pleaser from childhood, from birth,
obligated to placate grown up wrath;
peacemaker, quiet, diffident, withdrawn,
Cooped up in the corner of Brains over Brawn;
How could I resist the toxic Controller,
Strong, decisive, driven, confident?
Slender of waist, beauty sublime,
cutting words, and infinite anger?
Clothed in the garb of piety,
Secure in her self righteousness?
I was a sitting duck
fish in a barrel
a hypnotized deer in the headlights
Slaving to appease her vicious caprice
with grovelling compliance
I lost myself pursuing her approval
And still she left
Abandoning me
to my fear of abandonment
