A person looks back on a relationship in which they were controlled, and the poem moves through three short stages: wanting to grow, wanting to feel alive, and finally leaving. The chain is the central image. The partner offers a kind of freedom ("you can go, but only to the front door"), which is really no freedom at all, since it ends exactly where the leash does. Blooming suggests the speaker is a plant or living thing that needs room, and the partner keeps pinning it in place.
The speaker's feelings shift from longing to frustration to a quiet, hurt exhaustion. The cold "what for?" dismisses their need to feel alive as pointless. The last line stings most: when the speaker finally leaves, the other person says nothing, "as if I were dead." The silence treats them as already gone, which may be the deepest pain. The mood is bleak and restrained, and the plain, short lines make the hurt feel more honest. The title's "(8)" hints that this is one entry in a larger series, though the poem stands on its own.