When first I arrived; I was fully clothed.
Layers of protection concealing unmarked skin.
Within these barriers I moved rigidly,Ever conscious of the shield
Ever conscious they might break.
Never could I feel an untainted caress,
Always refusing the breath of life from my skin.
Through pinpoints of light I viewed the world;
Distortions, jagged edges, missing pieces.

But within these walls I was safe,
Yet within these walls I was dying.

You came and I felt myself tremble.
Iron bands that had contained me so many years
Loosened under your piercing gaze.
I began to move more fluidly,
Sliding though water, though always contained.

There was fear, when first you touched my face
Your hands, so skilled, removed the first of my barriers.
You revealed to my eyes a world I had denied.
Opened my mind to accept what I had rejected.
I heard your promises, I tasted your truth.

Slowly your hands slid down
Unbuckling constraints, unshackling repressions.
For the first, I felt life flow unfettered across my skin.
My arms, my hands, naked and gleaming
Learned to touch without shame, to feel without fear.
Legs held so long bound, yearned to move
To dance with your rhythmic seduction.

My heart you touched first and freed last.
Slowly, carefully, with a lover’s touch
You stripped away the fear; the guilt and the worry.
Jealousy and shame receded like the tides
Allowing love, acceptance and beauty to flow in from your hands.

Unclothed and exposed fully, you taught me to walk free.
To express myself without worry,
To share what could never have been said
To live for myself and no one else.

When first I arrived, I was fully clothed,
But by your touch and by your light
I have been set free.