I was once free

I was once free
Once able to breathe
Each breath with quiet joy
Grateful to be alive
The world was endless possibility
Life had ample opportunity
And I could do anything
And I not only believed this
But knew it on a core level
But slowly I was chained down
Link by link
Shackle by heavy shackle
I let myself be captured
Beaten
Abused
Tortured
Into believing this
Hell
Is all I deserve
All I’ll ever have
To the point where
It is I adding most of the chains
These days
Afraid to do anything else
Afraid to be free
         again