Purposeful Life After Retirement
A Thrilling Win: EverTrue Resident Takes Poetry Honor
When EverTrue Lutheran Hillside Village resident Maggie Nelson learned she had won the Illinois Federation of Women’s Club poetry contest, she could hardly believe it.
At 80+ years old, the lifelong lover of art, literature and learning had written her very first poem—and it had earned top honors!
“Writing poetry takes a lot of courage because you’re really putting it out on the line,” says Maggie. Art has shaped Maggie’s life since an inspiring high school English teacher challenged his students to look beyond first impressions. That lesson led her to embrace artists like Marc Chagall, study art history, work in libraries and spend decades connecting others with books, ideas and creativity. Yet poetry waited patiently for her until a recent Taoism class at Bradley University encouraged her to journal without fear.
Those reflections became her winning poem, MORRAINS of Memories. It focuses on themes of nature, change and memory. One line in particular reflects both nature and her own life: “Then recedes, leaving memories of all the fun picking up pretty pebbles.” Like a glacier leaving behind moraines, Maggie’s memories have gathered over eight decades—moments of learning, love, loss and wonder.
After the death of her husband, poetry gave Maggie a new language for healing. Winning the contest gave her a thrilling sense of possibility. “I feel like I’m 21 again and am just starting out,” she says. “I never imagined that in my 80s things would be coming together the way they have. I am thrilled!”
That excitement is already carrying her forward. With a career spent in libraries and a lifelong passion for literature, Maggie has founded and now moderates book clubs at EverTrue Lutheran Hillside Village, helping neighbors discover stories that challenge, comfort and inspire. Through her expansive connections in the literary world, she will bring in acclaimed authors and storytellers to encourage her fellow residents in literary adventure.
Maggie’s work has been inspiring to others. Peoria-based poet and musician Dr. Joe Couri heard her poem and asked her permission to use it to create a song. “When Dr. Joe Couri told me he wanted to turn my poem into a song, I was thrilled. It’s exciting to see poetry take on a new life through music and reach people in a different way.”
Poetry has become a new focus for Maggie, as she studies U.S. Poet Laureates at Bradley University.
“Hearing different perspectives and seeing so many approaches to poetry has opened my eyes to new possibilities in my own writing,” says Maggie. “I’m starting to loosen up as a poet. My newer poems are shorter, almost like haiku. I’m learning to make every word count.”
MORRAINS of Memories
by Maggie Nelson
WATER NEEDS TO CREATE.
A wonderous SHAPE SHIFTER!
ENERGY to shape the earth &
Give BREATH to the sky.
PLAYS with the SUN to create RAINBOWS.
Vaporous clouds play endless games
With the airy joy of Imagination.
Crystalline SNOW dazzles as breath
reveals the energy of CHI
Strength of Glaciers move overall
Then recedes, leaving memories
of all the fun picking up pretty pebbles
The Glaciers’ Morrains share their
joy with other
SENTIENT
WATERY
BEINGS
