Wanda Lombardi, the spiritual voice of Sannio

I find myself once again immersed in the poetic and human universe of Wanda Lombardi, the poet from Morcone (Benevento), a figure infinitely dear to me. The pretext is a new critical anthology that collects testimonies and reflections on her work, a tangible sign of the profound trace that her writing has left in the contemporary literary panorama.

Poetry as a spiritual act

Wanda Lombardi has dedicated her life to spirituality and poetry, convinced that one can write and pray to soothe the wounds of the soul, to reach the invisible. In her lyrics, only apparently simple, one can feel the depth of a soul that gracefully collects the fruits of a spiritual and cultural sowing.

A voice beyond words

I had the honor of prefacing two of Wanda's memorable works: *Tempi inquieti e altre poesie* and the *Opera Omnia*. In each page I recognized a truth that has been with me for a long time: there is a poetry that is not a prisoner of language, but transcends it. Lombardi does not limit himself to writing verses, he inhabits them with the totality of his existential experience.

A moral legacy for the new generations

Wanda Lombardi’s works have been welcomed in local, national and academic libraries, available to students. It is the fulfillment of her desire: to leave a heritage that is not only literary but also ethical to new generations. Her poetry, defined as “mystical realism” by the critic Raffaele Piazza, represents a point of reference for those seeking a profound meaning in the poetic word.

“Mystical Realism” in a Lost Age

In a time when poetry seems lost between provocative avant-gardes and semantic ambiguity, the clear voice of Wanda Lombardi emerges as an anchor. Her “mystical realism” is a path of vertical knowledge, which unites philosophy and spirituality. As Don Bosco said, it is “walking with your feet on the earth and inhabiting heaven with your heart”.

A daily dialogue with the divine

Wanda meets God not in the folds of pain, but in everyday life. Her long career as a teacher has allowed her to listen to and understand young people, while her poetry has become meditation, an interior mirror. In her verses, she does not question God: she listens to his answers. A high and creative use of the mind that connects the visible to the invisible.

Two wings: love and meditation

In my opinion, Wanda has two wings: love and meditation. If her poems betray an existential restlessness, there is never resignation. Singing about Sannio – a land of history, culture and beauty – the author dissolves the shadows in a sweet, poignant, never desperate melancholy. Her poetic strength also comes from subtractions, from wounds transformed into light.

A poem that heals

Wanda's poetry acts as a balm for the soul: it is cathartic for those who write it, purifying for those who read it. "Great poetry is an echo asking the shadow to dance," wrote Carl Sandburg, and nothing describes the effect of her work better. Lombardi is, by now, a teacher of Hope: her books are gifts of faith and resistance.

A testament of light, not a farewell

This anthology, which collects the voices of critics and passionate readers, is not a farewell, but a gift. Wanda will continue to write, to raise prayers to heaven and poems to her land. Each of her texts is a seal of love, faith and hope. The poet looks at the world with the eyes of faith and her wounds have become medals: signs of a journey lived with intensity.

The innocence that resists

Getting to know her through her verses was like meeting a friend with a pure heart. Innocent hearts, as we know, must absorb the noise of the world and return fertile silences. Wanda is not a pessimist: she lives the nostalgia of what could have been with the lightness of angels. Her poetry is also civil, because it reminds us all that, despite the blood of history, the sky remains the same blue, and the scent of flowers never betrays.