Cradled

remember the time
we drove out to the country
and the Indiana moonlight
highlighted the path
we had to walk in darkness
to make way back to the water
that cooled the summer night
surrounded by the immense stones
of the no longer worked quarry

you convinced a then, reserved version of myself
to let go of the shame of nakedness
and as I stripped away the inhibition
and stood in front of you
in the furthest state from indecency
for the first time in my life
I understood why God made our hearts to love
and mother's nature smiled
as we rocked in her arms