I Am Initiated Again

I spent seven years in a strange enchantment
bereft of friends and kin
Now the bright moon rests in a treetop
smiling with one long eye
and music pours from the party house
People dance in a lit pool
A bat flies
under the trillion feast of stars
whose further layers
are indistinct as butter
soaking into bread

Oh Lord-ess, here on a hilltop
with the warm Greek sea
gone dark in the distance
among lovable isles! –

I spent seven years treading a strange stair
up and down its cushioned vitals
day by day

Now I fly, simply as walking
out the door
and my friends are here twirling
in the happy water
where they’ve always been –

Poem by Madhuri – Corfu Buddha Hall, 2nd September 2012
Painting by Punya, Corfu, 19th September 2012