I hope no one thinks I'm being disrespectful in any way to the people that survived or died in these horrible disasters. I've found it hard to write for awhile now and for some reason reading the personal accounts from the people that lived through these disasters is bringing out some of my creative interest.
These pieces are dark because the people that are living through them are in a dark place. I try to work in hope when I can, but many of the quotes I'm using are taken immediately after these horrific events. It's inspiring that anyone can see hope after living through something like this.
Again, these aren't my words. Each line is taken from the direct quote of a person who survived. I may only use a portion of what that person says, but I don't rearrange the words.
I think we can all learn something from these people. When we start thinking our lives are pretty horrible remember, there are people out there that have gone through things that we can't even imagine.
The Tsunami Was Black
The shaking was so fierce,
Side to side.
Is it a dream?
A bad dream. A nightmare.
I thought I would die.
The tsunami was black,
Unbelievably fast.
Washed away by the wave
Right in front of me.
There wasn't time to save them.
Her daughter was washed away,
I have no words.
She has not found her.
This is another poem pieced together from the quotes of an online news story. I didn't change any of the wording. I just picked the parts that spoke to me and put them in an order that I hope speaks to you.
I rarely read the news. Horrible things happen everyday around the world and in most cases there's nothing we can do to stop them or to help the people affected. We can donate to the Red Cross or some other charity, but thats as close as most of us will ever get to helping.
I was reading the reports about the tornadoes back East a few weeks ago. Tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, natural disasters in general have been horrible recently. When these disasters happen there's nothing the people in their paths can do, but try to survive and protect the people they love.
I pieced this poem together from the quotes the survivors gave to reporters describing what they went through when these record breaking, horrific tornadoes literally blew through their lives. Each line is taken verbatim from a different survivor. I hope I never have to go through what they did.
If you know me personally you've heard me say it before. Being a parent sucks.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are good things about being a parent. The first time you hold them in your arms, the first time they truly smile at you, first words, first steps, when they hug you and say they love you (without wanting something), etc, etc. Those are all good things, BUT they can be overshadowed, buried deep, forced into retreat by the everyday drudgery of parenthood.
Think about it. Parenthood is truly the most thankless job out there. Whether accidental or planned there's no training for it. If you're lucky you have your mother or mother-law stick around after the birth to help out and show you a few things. How to change a diaper, swaddle, bathe, feed, etc. But what do you do after they leave? I'll tell you. You make mistakes and hope neither you or your kids are being permanently scarred.
I loved being a parent when my kids were babies. I had a knack for it. If they were crying I could usually get them to stop. I knew how to hold them and bounce them in my arms to get them to go to sleep. I never dropped them (well, maybe once. He was really slippery after a bath) and usually could get them to laugh. I'm not saying it was easy. We had the same sleepless nights, diaper blowouts, throwing up and screaming, hysterical fits as any parent (the screaming was pretty evenly divided between the kids and the parents), but it was something we could handle and knew that there would be an end.
Well, it hasn't ended. Or more accurately, it ended with our oldest more than ten years ago, but like a bad sequel to a horror movie, it's back with a vengeance with my four year old.
I'm pretty sure our brains are wired to forget the hardest, most traumatic moments of parenting. If the memories of the terrible twos, threes, fours and fives stayed in our brains we would never have children again and the human race would lose. I know my oldest wasn't the easiest to raise, but the tough times of his early years are mostly lost in a mental fog. He's ten years older than his little demon, I mean brother, and now, comparably, I remember him being an angel.
The four year old demon child seems to have a natural ability to drive me to the brink of sanity and beyond with little to no effort on his part. Refusing to do the simplest tasks, screaming and crying when he doesn't get his way. Always talking, always moving, always trying to get our attention no matter how much attention he's already been given and he repeats himself incessantly (my oldest did that also).
Part of the problem is that I'm older now and I have less patience with anything, let alone children. We were done having kids and I was looking forward to a freedom from parenting responsibilities within only a few more years. Eighteen years added to my parenting prison sentence is to much to think about sometimes. Yes, I understand I sound incredibly selfish. If we had really wanted to stop having kids then we should have done something about it, but hindsight is 20/20. I need to figure out how to survive his childhood while keeping my sanity.
Don't get my wrong. I do love the little demon. He is incredibly smart and can be incredibly cute while also being incredibly strong willed. I know I'll survive his childhood, (committed to a mental hospital) but while I struggle, at least I haven't given up.
