Spring ? Summer - St. Margaret's Hospital

As one of the competition judges wrote, “The flow is excellent
and the images are memorable ... Amelia as a housewife is
ordinary on the outside but, behind a domestic surface, seems
extraordinary in the ability to focus on her true passion of ‘rhyme
and measure.’”
Lucia’s poetry has also appeared in The Christian Guide, Shepherd,
Christian Century, and Ancient Peaks. She has won such distinguished
poetry competitions as the Oak Hill Poetry Competition, held in
conjunction with Edgar Lee Masters Day in Lewiston.
Over the years, Lucia has explored many of poetry’s forms,
drawing inspiration from the works of Frost, Whitman and
Shakespeare. Many of her poems explore spirituality, while others
capture nature—two themes that are linked, as Lucia observes,
because nature is everything God created.
She immerses herself in nature as she tends her backyard garden,
but she also finds ideas by simply observing the world. “I never
know—I could be riding in a car and see something, or hear what
someone says or (see) what they do,” she says.
She also finds much inspiration in Bible study. “I find a lot of peace
and wisdom in Scripture,” she says, noting that this has not just had
an impact on her poems, but also on her daily life and interactions
with others.
Reading the work of fellow writers also encourages her. Lucia
enjoys communicating with those who contribute to online
anthologies, such as Cross Way Publications (http://www.christianpoetry.org)
or Utmost Christian Writers (http://www.utmostchristianwriters.com).
“It’s really uplifting to connect with other Christians
who write,” she says.
Writing is her quiet time, a respite from looking after her 5-yearold
granddaughter, Rayghan, and doing the housework in the Spring
Valley home she shares with her husband, Jim.
She puts her thoughts on paper perhaps three or four times a week,
pausing first to pray. As she has reconnected with her faith, she has
seen a shift in her writing, from free verse to formal verse with a
spiritual focus. “My message has evolved,” she reflects. “Before, I was
writing to be writing. Since I was led more to the Lord, I just want
to make others aware of what I’ve found. I never know what effect
I’ll have—I might inspire someone to seek Him.”
She also found a material way of helping others when a publisher
of the English poetry magazine Dial 174, which published some of
her poems, offered to bind copies of her collections for sale. The first,
Petals in the Wind, was distributed overseas and the proceeds were
donated to the Romanian Children’s Fund. The second, The
Instream, was sold locally, with proceeds going to Illinois Valley
PADS. “I wondered how I could use what I do to help out,” she says.
“I just feel really blessed to have this ability.”
Her newest book, Divine Light, Living Water, was published in
February. Available at publishamerica.com and through Barnes &
Noble, the volume contains 60 of her poems.
Lucia welcomes all the interest in her work, but says that, “even if
nothing happens, it’s nourishing to me. Every time I write
something, it’s an accomplishment, a connection in my life with the
Lord. I don’t feel it’s coincidence; I feel it’s the Lord’s timing.”
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