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.
Songs
by Raynette Eitel
It’s Christmas—
String songs of joy
Across skies crested
With glitter of stars,
Above the blessed cry of a newborn child
Around children wild with the wonder of Noel.
Shape songs of peace—
Give them away like gold
And frankincense and myrrh
Beneath a blinding star of Bethlehem.
Send songs of love—
A hallelujah chorus mighty enough
To wake a shepherd,
A glory to God loud enough to
Shake a city,
A Good Will to Men reverberating
Around this shrunken earth
From heart to heart to heart.