***Though this poem is dedicated to Tim Samaras; his son Paul, and Carl Young, who were also killed with Tim, are honored here as well.***

May 31, 2013
5 years ago today
The world lost
A meteorological
Storm Chasing
Legend

Tim Samaras
His son Paul
And fellow chaser
Carl Young
Were taken from this
Worldly plain
By the finger of G-d

A 2.6-mile wide monster
With multiple vortices
Going hundreds of miles per hour
In El Reno, Oklahoma

Up, up, up
Across
Away
Vessels stayed
Souls lifted to heaven

To me
A natural disasters nerd
This loss was a punch in the gut
A stab in the heart

His work with National Geographic
I cherished
Read and reread
To learn more about the storms

Tornadoes are deadly
Yet beautiful
Mother Nature uncontrolled by man

His creations of the probes
Consulting on the movie that
Started my love for these majestic
Creatures of wind
In middle school
"Twister"

The documentaries on his work
His life
Their deaths
And I didn't even know
The exact day

Until a few years after
Upon when I doubled over
In tears
For this man
His team
Strangers to me

Made my heart ache
For the family
Friends, colleagues
Of a real legend

Thinking of him
Any other day
Of the year
Chest tightens up
Sadness leaps abound

But one must remember
Everything he's done for
The weather community
Better, longer warnings
Creative equipment for measuring

For the friendships and love
Surrounding those he cared about most
And the ones
Like me
Dreamers of seeing and understanding
What a tornado thinks

Rest In Peace Tim, Paul, & Carl
May your angelic work
Shine rainbows and thunderheads
In the Great Plains forevermore