Good Night My Friends, Good Night

Posted by Ronda Miller March 29, 2011 at 9:26 a.m.

On Feb. 5th, as people turned excitedly to the news, or filed slowly to form lines to participate in the political caucus system of our great nation, clouds carrying killer storms formed quickly and wrecked havoc in several states. Many people were killed and numerous more were injured. The following is a tribute to those who lost someone they knew and loved:

Snow flakes, falling fluffy and light,

Strike upon my heart as weights

Each one heavy and hard.

Blood drips from my soul

As tears from eyes should fall

These other storms,

Darkness swirling on the horizon

Too early to be night,

Contrast sharply with

The layering of white

Across our land.

People weep, mourning

Loved ones who disappeared

Too quickly from their sight,

Now awakening to the light of morning

And a plight an entire nation shares

Good night, my friends, good night

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kanfans 5 years, 3 months ago

A beautiful farewell to those victims of the storms, Ronda.

Linda Hanney 5 years, 3 months ago

Ronda,a thoughtful eulogy to those lost in this tragedy.

Dorothy Hoyt-Reed 5 years, 3 months ago

A beautiful tribute.

pearlgirl 5 years, 3 months ago

very good tribute to those who lost someone, gret job ronda.

Ronda Miller 5 years, 3 months ago

Marion, what a beautfully written post. I appreciate your sharing of personal experiences with one of these incredible forces of nature.

I have been close to tornadoes on a couple of occasions, but nothing similar to what you experienced. I am glad your mother survived - I'll bet your heart was racing!

I love the description "The finger of God" and I have watched the movie "Twister" too many times with my son when he was much younger. He is almost twenty now and has enjoyed taking some of the classes offered by Douglas County Emergency Managment.

I agree that nature and tornadoes do not come for us - they simply are. I love so many aspects about nature, and in particular, its beauty and power.

I realize my poem may have been a strange medium to use to write about a circumstance such as this, but sometimes, as with storms, it is about feeling - the electricity, the cold, the heat, the hail, the pain of loss.

Nature, everything under God's sun, sure can put us in a new place, with a new perspective, as quickly as the blink of an eye.

rodentgirl16 5 years, 3 months ago

Ronda,

You are a wonderfully eloquent writer, and you truly bring out the best in everyone on these forums. Keep up the good work!

Ronda Miller 5 years, 3 months ago

Bob, I apprciate your sharing of your personal situation with your experience with Greensburg. I recently visited the farm site that I spent years seven through seventeen on and I was horrified at how run down it had become by the present owners. I stood in the yard with my children and cried - my feelings would have to be quite small in comparison to the loss of those, such as your brother and yourself, who saw but a hole in the ground. Add that to the horror of losing a friend, neighbor, family member - entire families. My sympathy to your family and you on this.

Thank you Marion and Bob for sharing a part of who you are with all of us.

Thank you rodentgirl - your compliments mean so much to what I attempt to do!

Cool, cool!!!!! thanks for the link :)

I took a weather class at KU many years ago and one of the things I learned was that because Kansas does take storms quite seriously, and we are prepared, we do have fewer fatalities then areas that normally do not have these "killer" storms. We have come a long way, but still have some work to do.

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