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.
Children’s Christmas Concert
by Raynette Eitel
Snatches of songs like
Small squares of silk
Stitched in arpeggios,
Chords of quilted memories
Open even the jaded heart to
Visions of Christmas past.
Grace notes skitter across the sky
Like breadcrumbs bidding
Me to find my way back to childhood.
My tongue tastes candy canes
And my eyes see trees heavy
And glittering with innocent snow.
But now it is the ears receiving the gift,
Just as shepherds heard angels long ago
When blinded by a star.
It is these joyful children who
Scatter seeds of Christmas spirit,
In songs laced with miracles,
Wrapping their concert in curly ribbons
That ripple rapturously across the room to
Render us ready for another season of Noel.
Writing Rhetorically 