Kerry Isham Poetry |Prominent American poets

KERRY ISHAM - Bio

Kerry Isham is a lifelong learner whose poetry explores the intricate interplay of joy and adversity. Her creative work is deeply informed by a global perspective, shaped by years of living in various locales across the United States and Europe.

With an academic foundation including an MA in psychology and advanced studies in theology and pastoral care, Kerry brings a profound understanding of the human condition to her writing. Her professional background in the nonprofit and human services sector further enriches her perspective on resilience and community.

Although she has familial roots in Kentucky, before settling in the Bluegrass State, Kerry called the New Jersey Shore home. Today, she resides in the urban heart of Louisville where she lives with her beloved cat, Gramercy.

Kerry Isham

GRAVEL SWITCH MEMORIES

Sitting in the backseat
Car bouncing along
never-ending, one-way gravel road-path
opens into a clearing and a tiny ramshackle home
Big plaid shirt and faded flowered-y apron
greet us with crooked, wrinkled smiles
Come on in!
I swanny, you done grew so much!
Then grown-up talk against ornate, peeling wallpaper
old pictures, animated voices
heartfelt laughter
And kid discovery in the green and gold yard
katydids, grasshoppers spitting tobacco, tall grass, and clover
The pump
(not a toy)
gushes pure life that glistens in the sun
Afternoon hill breezes
become soft quiet ev’ning
becomes lightning bug-dotted night
Pack tired back into the car
back across the
never-ending, one-way gravel road-path
toward home
- Kerry Isham, 2024

CAN YOU HEAR?

Ethereal music
talks to me
through thrushes
Rushes
through the sky
Colors
make themselves known
across
multi-hued canvases
Earth
Myrth
Complete yet unfinished
Touching and tasting tears
of happiness, joy,
change,
sadness, wonder
Almost-forgotten music
of dreams and musings
intersects lovingly with
the timbre and
memories of
life itself
- Kerry Isham, 2025

NEW

what's on the surface
is a modicum
a quiet hint
of our real service
a call to us
a lone footprint
what's below
not to know
hard to show
ignored, it grows
in dark, dank
underpinnings
recalled, it nourishes
new and brave
beginnings
--- Kerry Isham, 2025

NIGHT SKY GIFT

Black night sky
Alone but not
Look up
Discover
Twinkling iridescent 
lively yet still
beauty against rock-solid yet ethereal onyx
 
Self and you and us and all
resonate with the universe rhythm
Past energy reaches here and beyond
Future vitality
finds us here
and pulls life 
lovingly forward
 
Movement and symbiosis
guide us into surprise and wonder
send us
give us
nourish us in a love embrace
 
Night sky love
invites us
interconnects us
with the bountiful merciful unnamed unknown
-       Kerry Isham, 2024