E Ala is the path

The path is the way
It is called E Ala in Hawaiian language
Path is the way from where you are to where you go
It is the going

In the warm dry days a million hair like roots
bind the soil the path is firm
You walk easily

rains slicken the top of the path
make liquid the gritty dirt
fiber roots loosen slip apart like fresh washed hair

feet penetrate the ground now muck
liquidy soupy soil your feet sink down
mud wanders into your shoes
you can just take them off and feel the squish underfoot
you will become wet & cold from the ground up

There is a way to make the path solid
no matter what
It is not easy
you dig out the dirt all the way to the lava beneath

this is the hard lava rock
not that magma you might be thinking of
this is ground after all
holding trees and buildings
countless footsteps yours and the ancestors

Dirt now mounded up you fill the trench with rocks
only rocks
dirt goes somewhere else

Rain falls far into the rocks
no muck or mud
you walk on hard pebbles
leaves fall and break down
even with time over time
E Ala the path will be hard and firm
the path you walk in all seasons
made as it is by hard work
path that makes you strong