Out of Reach (sonnet)

My future freedom hovers just beyond,
With promises of joy I’ve never known,
Or did I know it once, but now it’s gone,
Like innocence, a bird that’s long since flown.
Do I remember feeling happiness?
Can I recall the warmth of being held
And comforted with gentle tenderness,
Before the chains of shame were all I felt?
Will I someday reclaim that part of me
That trusted once, and dared to still believe?
Is this forever what my lot shall be,
To reach for what I fear I can't achieve?
I long to break these bonds, but could it be
That love, in truth, is but a fantasy?