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.
Nothing is as it Seems
by Raynette Eitel
The children of Bethlehem
Wake in the night
“Mama,” they call,
“What is that bright light?”
“Hush, little ones,
Return to your dreams
For nothing this night
Is as it seems.”
The fathers stir restlessly as they sleep
Hearing footsteps of shepherds
And their sheep.
They mutter in the midst of dreams,
“Nothing this night is as it seems.”
The mothers lie listening to sounds nearby,
A young girl’s moan, a newborn’s cry,
Then the musical voice of newfound joy.
“The child,” they murmur, “is a boy.”
The talk by the Sea of Galilee next morn:
“A King in Bethlehem was born.
One who will still the mighty sea,
And make fishers of men like you and me.”
“For nothing last night while we dreamed
Was as normal as it seemed.
From a night of miracles and pain,
Nothing will be the same again.”
And so the word passed near and far
Of a lowly birth and a royal star
And a night that passed while many dreamed
While nothing, nothing was as it seemed.
Writing Rhetorically 