Bury Me with Chocolates

My mom, Raynette Forister Eitel, passed away in September of 2022, drifting away into dementia. It was tragic to watch this woman who loved words, who was a poet, fade away into wordlessness after a lifetime of crafting poetry.

To honor her, I’d like to share some of her poems. She wrote for all of her adult life, sometimes published in local journals, occasionally gathering a few into small books she’d hand out to friends. Every year she wrote a Christmas poem, printed it in cards, and mailed it to friends and family in ever-growing lists. They would tell us that they looked forward to receiving her Christmas cards every year.

“Bury Me with Chocolates” is one of our family’s favorites. For this poem she won an award from a San Francisco dance troupe, and they choreographed a dance to accompany it. Receiving that award, and watching the dance from a specially reserved seat, was one of the highlights of her life.

Bury Me with Chocolates
Raynette Eitel

Bury me with chocolates,
The kind I love so well.
Send dark and bitter candy wreaths
With leaves of caramel.

Chocolate chip tears upon my cheeks,
White chocolate pillows filled with creams
To soothe me in my final sleep
And sweeten all my heavenly dreams.

Place one lone lovely chocolate rose
With petals curling in my hand.
Heap gold foil coins in random piles
Egyptian-like, and oh so grand.

Please do not toast me with champagne,
A rich hot chocolate will do,
Laced with a touch of cinnamon
And then perhaps marshmallows too.

But if you plan a conflagration
To send me warmly to my rest,
Do not forget I’ve always loved
A sticky, hot fudge sundae best.