Joyce Kennedy • Ghost Lamp

In her first collection of poetry, Ghost Lamp, Joyce Kennedy examines life with the central metaphor of a ghost lamp, “that spark of spirit” which stays on in solitude within each of us, defining and absorbing our life experiences. The poems present an arc of the poet’s life that starts with childhood, then moves from self outward to beloved others and finally, to the broader world of a humanity that longs for justice.

Praise for Ghost Lamp

“What a pleasure Ghost Lamp is! Joyce Kennedy
has such a marvelous voice: beguiling and bracing at the same time. It is a voice that both inspires and challenges. There are poems here of such great
happiness it would make you envious as a reader if you didn't understand Kennedy was really saying: this is your life, too, not just mine: these poems belong to you as much as to me. Whether the subject is happiness or loss, aging or welcoming new children into the family, love for another or love of solitude, Joyce Kennedy's poems in Ghost Lamp are treasures of the heart and spirit.” — Jim Moore, author of Lightning at Dinner (Graywolf Press, 2005)

About Joyce

Joyce lives in Bloomington with her husband, Wally. A retired teacher, she has metamorphosed into a poet. Her book Ghost Lamp was published by Laurel in December of 2005. She has a lively interest in the arts and has long been an advocate for the arts in education. Her poems, “Lonely Lake,” and “Who Will Know?,” have been selected for Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” segment on public radio.

Ghost Lamp

The most precious

thing is hidden

within its home

of body — that spark,

that spark of spirit

that shines, that shines

no matter what,

as if it were a ghost lamp,

the bare bulb left burning

in the hush of night

in the darkened theater

after everyone has gone.

From Ghost Lamp, by Joyce Kennedy

Joyce on Writing Poetry

I work to make my poems bear witness to precarious, precious existence. I seek to describe the emotional truth of what it means to be human as artfully as I can in words and images. Poetry, like music, is the language of spirit.
The sound of a poem as it is spoken is very important to me.
As I write, I often stop to speak the words aloud. The way consonants, vowels, syllables and pauses work together in a poem is a kind of music in time.

From The Double Meaning of Yield: Laurel Poets on Writing Poetry