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, fade away into wordlessness after a lifetime of crafting poetry. To honor her, I’m sharing some of her poems. To read more of her poems, keep coming back here.
Mom grew up in the desert, and she had plenty of southwestern poetry that we enjoyed (which I will share!). However, another love of hers, which grew as she and her husband Jim spent time in tropical climates, was the sea. Far from tropical, though, was the beautiful area off the coast of Washington, a collection of islands called the San Juans. They tried to stay for a month each summer, to get away from the Las Vegas heat. She fell in love with the area.
Pieces of Peace
(on Orcas Island, Washington)
by Raynette Eitel
Here is tranquility in quiet seas
Surrounded by sentinels of silent pines.
Here a plane lands on still waters
Beside sailboats like a boy’s favorite toy.
And from the summit of Mt. Constitution
Comes a dazzling glimpse of a snow-cloaked Mt. Baker
And green islands circling Orcas like a necklace
As eagles soar beneath a smooth sky and indigo straits.
In July, night comes slowly as light lingers long and low
Over waters littered with glitter of newborn stars.
A soothing song settles over the land like a lullaby
While we settle into the peace, wrapping it about us.
Dawn will not be long in coming,
But it will tiptoe across the island’s eastern edge
Swathed in a soft pink robe
Trimmed with fog as white as ermine.
Writing Rhetorically 