Haleakala

The road climbs like a snake

up the flank of the volcano

in the pre dawn dark.

At the summit, we join

the gathered throng,

a couple hundred strong,

draped in beach towels

and quilted snow garb.

Flip-flops, sneakers

Cargo shorts and

Patagonia fleece.

Sports team hoodies.

The crater below crowded

with cumulus clouds

hunched like an army

of monsters and giants.

A boy dressed head to toe

in blue Goretex

sleeping on the rocks,

belongs to a tour group

wearing jackets emblazoned

with an emblem and motto:

“do good have fun

save the planet”.

A sliver of sun

crests the horizon,

spears the bowl

of monsters and giants,

turning them back

into the sculpted

vapor of towering clouds.

Now is the moment

when a Hawaiian man

winds through the watchers

chanting the day

into existence. 

I think so,

it feels like that.

Like the birth

of the planet.

When God said,

let there be light.

and He saw that it was good

and He divided the light

from darkness.

The clouds are stained

with gold and fire.

Cellphones pointed

at the flaming skyscape,

we gasp and kiss

and touch each other.

The mother of the sleeping boy

laughs as she wakes him,

she doesn’t want him to miss

this beauty and glory.