a pleaser

[KICKBACK]

Never could have said no,
Emotional reflex,
Ever a pleaser.

Suspicious eyes,
For rapists are everywhere,
I can't even refuse the cashier's
Sales of the day.

I have shrunken into a little ball.
Gravity and the kicking of children
Have made my path,
Down the boulevard.

I found a way to make it
Less scary,
Discovered that if I gaze downward,
People just don’t notice.
So I became best friends with the ground.

I have shrunken into a little ball.
Gravity and the kicking of children
Have made my path,
Down the boulevard.

I imagine this poem is about a babysitter, someone like that. only thing the babysitter is afraid to take the kids out anywhere. maybe because of some sort of trauma the babysitter has, holding her away from the outside world, especially other adults. Perhaps she was raped before, and she can't trust anyone. In fact, now that I think about it, maybe she blames herself for a rape because she never could tell the person, "no." "Ever a pleaser."

"Gravity" I feel could be that she wants to take the kids out to the park or down the boulevard, because kids want to play. But the babysitter is too afraid. But it seems she has found a way to be there for the kids. She has no self-confidence, but she loves the children so much, that the only way she could take them out to play is by staring at the ground, so no one notices her and turning into a little ball so the children can kick her around and on down the boulevard. She does it for the kids so that they can play. Basically the kids are saying "take us this way! or I want that!" and she can't help but tell them, "okay. yes."

Well that's my interpretation. As always, keep writing.