A Lifetime of Christmas Poetry
My mom, Raynette Forister Eitel, passed away in September of 2022, age 85, drifting away into dementia. It was tragic to watch this woman who loved words, who was a poet and teacher, fade away into wordlessness after a lifetime of crafting poetry.
Mom had a tradition of writing a new Christmas poem each year and sending it to friends and relatives. The mailing list grew each year, and people always told us they looked forward to mom’s Christmas poems. She published some in a couple little books. There are too many to post just once a day during the month of December, but I’ll choose some of the best.
Calypso Christmas
by Raynette Eitel, 1989
Some places Christmas comes in like a calypso,
Steel bands playing a Merry Christmas across white sands,
Bongos beating a message for dancing,
Always the dancing barefoot, frenzied,
Skin glistening beneath a hot sun.
Some places Christmas trims trees in fruit,
Juicy balls of orange and tangerine,
Bunches of bananas bending low
Coconuts hanging way above reach,
Swaying as the calypso on the beach plays on.
Some places Christmas comes in with perfumed air
From swags of bougainvillea as
The Christmas calypso drifts into open windows.
People lean far out to catch the rhythm,
Laughing a joyful laugh, tapping a happy beat,
Sending little showers of petals fluttering
Like red butterflies in the breeze.
Before morning, a warm blue sea erases footprints
From the silent sand; and yet
A steel band sound lingers on the surf,
And that Christmas calypso beat lasts all year long.
Writing Rhetorically 