Velvet Handcuffs Poem by Lacie Hebert

You wrapped me up in something kind, 
A love that slowly stole my mind.
Soft enough I didn't see, 
The way you tightened around me.

You called it love, you called it trust,  But love shouldn't turn to rust.
It shouldn't bind, it shouldn't cage, 
Or turn affection into rage.

You made your control feel like care,  Like I was lucky you were there.
But cages don't need iron bars,  Sometimes they're built from whispered scars.

You said I'd break if I were free, 
That I belonged where you could see. But freedom doesn't mean goodbye, 
It means I finally learned to fly.

And when I left, I finally knew, 
The thing I feared was never you—
It was the lie I called my own, 
That I was safer not alone.