The Day I Watched the Earth Breathe Fire

It's hard to put into words what it feels like to watch the planet remake itself.

Kilauea was already erupting when I arrived - alive and moving, as if the earth had decided to exhale. From the viewing point, I could see the lava shimmering through the heat, slow and steady, glowing even under the bright afternoon sun. It wasn't chaotic or violent in the way i'd imagined a volcano would be. It was calm, and rhythmic, powerful.

The sound was distant, a low murmur that seemed to come from deep inside the world. People stood quietly around me, no one speaking above a whisper, as if noise might interrupt whatever ancient thing was happening beneath us.

I stood there - stunned.

completely starstruck by the earth itself.

I'd always imagined this moment as loud, fiery, destructive. But in person, it felt sacred. Peaceful, even. Like watching a force that doesn't need permission, doesn't need to prove it's power.

I stayed as long as I could, unable to pull myself away. The lava kept flowing long after I left, reshaping the land one slow breath at a time.

The world kept creating, ending and beginning merging into one.

-The Anxious Passport