We prepared ourselves to meet her
at the cliffs of Vahine Kapu
We stripped naked underneath the moon
to cleanse ourselves in her steam
Her breath was hot and humid
the wind whipped it around us
saturating us with her mist
as we stood before her red cave
In the sometimes icy cold
mostly warm and heavy
or intense and searing pain
We sweated and silently prayed
Tourist cars passed in the dark
none of them the wiser
This place of power, potent still
perpetually restored
We stood upon her mountaintop
and gazed upon her threshold
The endless sky glowed and fizzed
with stars familiar and unknown
Beyond our sight her presence felt
Terrible and Dreadful
A temple built without hands
One of the great sacred places of the world
Then we approached her
hair standing and skin trembling
Her radiance lit the sky
Plumes billowed in the air
Her sound disconcerting
the language of rock, fire and lava
The akua is home
who would dare to go near?
Pele, the lady of the volcano
Majestic, powerful, beautiful, fearsome
Purifying the land
even as she creates it anew
9 June 2014
Kawaihae, Hawai’i Island
Monkeywrenching 