I remember being chained to the floor My mouth stitched shut by threads of doubt Not knowing if I'd been locked away in an abyss Or if my eyes had been seared blind by all the pain I chose to see All breaths were heaving burdens And I could feel my heartbeat slowing but did not have the will to use it to trace the passing time What could I do? Was there a word, a spell to unlock the hold placed upon me If I could only clear away all the trauma and tragedy But nothing, I could find nothing I remember crying to the sound of voices telling me I would end and waste away here They laughed as they told me I was meant to die Screaming I tugged viciously at my shackles Nothing, I could feel nothing But then my moment came Something gave way the chain had certainly loosened That night or day or moment void of time I bit down ******* my own flesh as I begged my body to fight for me Despite the blood trickling off my fingertips Hours, no it could have been days I wouldn't have known the difference between seconds and weeks But through curses and agony I split my chains And I tore open flesh and stitches to let my cry of victory echo I remember laying my fingers over every crevice of that chamber Still blind to anything that lie beyond my cell of self inflicted torture Surely there was a way to escape I scanned over the room until I could find the walls without reaching out I found myself stranded and the voices came back to mock my feeble attempts at freedom And I cried and cried and cried I remember growing a fire in my heart with the burn of determination to survive Begging it to quicken and bless me with the will to fight And that is when I began to climb Oh how many times I fell and cursed my foolish hope Only to convice myself to scale the wall once more Sweat raining off my back At last I caught a whiff of something alive and fresh And titled my head up Proceeding to choke on my own breath How long had it been since I'd witnessed the glory of light And with layers of skin stripped from my fingertips I clawed my way up to flat land for my final battleNow I'm looking down on the endless pit I jumped into And here is what I will remember As I breath air both crisp and smooth Savoring flowers unique scent and tastes I will remember that the only reason I now take every advantage of our golden sun By absorbing all and every ray of light Is because of every ounce of effort and energy I poured into gaining back my open skied world Every drop of blood Every anger soaked tear Every fear filled drip of sweat Made my journey a success There was no miracle, no spell Just a straight uphill battle matched only by my own will to thrive And so there is no forgetting That this was more than worth it