They tried so hard to make me talk,
But secrets I would not reveal.
They stood and watched me like a hawk,
So many days that I lost track-
My life was numb, I could not feel.

This body, at their every whim:
The torture with a deadly snake,
And pulling me from limb to limb,
The beatings in a filthy sack-
I prayed the Lord my soul to take.

But day by day I had a plan
To steal away without a trace,
And when I saw the chance, I ran-
I slipped on through a hidden crack
And made it to a better place...

For I am free! I'm free at last!
And I survived, and wonder how.
With faceless shadows in my past,
And ghosts that danced upon my back;
But they no longer haunt me now.

 Breaking free...out of the chains that encapsulate one's soul...