Author: marygracewriting

Mary Grace van der Kroef is a poet, writer, and artist from Ontario, Canada. She enjoys the simple things in life, like a good cup of coffee, or heart to heart talks with friends. She uses her writing to highlight those simple things, to encourage others, and to explore her own inner world. She is a follower of Jesus Christ and writes from a Christian worldview. She believes every person, regardless of circumstance, is a creative being who's stories are important. She cherishes people's differences, as they are in their daily life walk, and believes diverse stories are imperative to understanding what it is to be human.

Six Word Story (68)

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Logic, the container that lets you place all your emotions in order. Alone logic is neat but empty. It can explain, but lacks the warmth and meaning that makes life worthwhile.

Emotions without a holder, they roll around and make a mess at our feet. But they are a healthy staple and give our life spark, and sustaining energy.

None is better than the other. Neither is perfect in its understanding of reality. The ability to understand how they fit together? That is power.

I believe they were created to be partners within the human experience. What do you think?

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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He Names Me

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Who am I?
The one that you see?
What she thinks of me?
All they note?
Or the thing he missed?

Who?

Guilty
That I forgot
Lost in the mess
Of others’ thoughts
Spewed at my feet

Why?

Untranslatable
From one mind to another
Labeled with others
Experiences
Self perceptions that tell lies

Where?

Is the truth of me
In this ever shifting nexus
Is it written down
In His book of days?
Was I

Planted

A vine that climes
Grabbing hold of His
Provisions
Both free and confined
To grow along the trellis of

His cross

When I reach the top
Will I know?
Intertwined and grounded
By Him, with Him,
I am for Him

Upheld

Blooming in my seasons
Existing, a separate being
Singleness, within the
Universe’s Whomb
Bearing fruits as He names me

Loved

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Covid Verses/Paddler Press

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The Covid Verses

Featuring 30 poems written during the global pandemic, this eclectic collection from international authors shares the humour, the frustrations, the loves, and the loss that we all have experienced.

– Paddler Press

I love it when an editor brings writers together and creates something special. I believe that is what Deryck Robertson has done with The Covid Verses. My poem Starving Overtime has graciously included in this collection that stands a testament to the world’s shared grief, pain, and fear. It may have been a dark two years for many, but it’s not a time we should forget, lest we fail to learn from our experiences.

This collaborative chapbook is available in print from Paddler Press. Please consider picking up your own copy to support this great Canadian Small Press.

Mary Grace van der Kroef

Six Word Story (67)

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Once, when I was little, I asked my dad what had happened to the forest as we drove through the Northwestern Ontario wilderness. The trees looked ugly and sad. Dead black things standing in silent testament to what once was.

Did you know that the black earth hides life? All we see is destruction, but the earth knows it as time to renew.

“The forest will grow back full of new life and food for the animals to eat.” Dad told me.

It can be the same with people. Don’t look at your burn out plots as lost. See them as places to grow new love.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Keep Lit

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He didn’t say
we wouldn’t weep while we waited.
He didn’t say
feeding the lantern’s flame,
wouldn’t singe.
He didn’t promise,
finding oil would be easy.
Only “Be ready,”
and the Spirit will with you sit.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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‘Omnipresent’ and ‘Things Made’/Heart of Flesh Literary Journal

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I have been waiting with great anticipation to be able to share this publication. Heart of Flesh Literary journal is a publication I have been following since the beginning of my writing career, and they have been a dream publication for me.

This last week Issue Seven went live! My poems “Omnipresent” and “Things Made” have been included in this issue and I pray they bless you. They are available to read for free, accompanied by audio readings.

Print copies are available for purchase if you wish to support the Heart of Flesh Literary Journal.

Mary Grace van der Kroed

– Feature art by Veronica McDonald, Heart of Flesh Literary Magazine. –

Six Word Story (66)

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Is it the flower, or the old car that is sad?

Perhaps they weep for each other as brothers in this world where all things have a beginning and an end.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Egg Salad

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A crunch to spoil the
Creamy texture I spread thick.
Celery, too much.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Disconnect/Mental Rhythm Magazine

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A literary magazine dedicated to showcasing the rhythms of mental health in individuals around the globe.

– Mental Rhythm Website –

They have featured my poem Disconnect in their first issue. I invite you all to read it along with the many other great works included.

It’s always a blessing to have a piece chosen out of the many submitted to each outlet. As a student run magazine, it’s also great to know my words are reaching young people in need of support.

I look forward to following them as a publication and supporting the students working behind the scene.

Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (65)

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Have you ever pulled a plant out of those flimsy plastic pots they start them in at greenhouses and garden departments? It always scares me when I do.

What if I damage the flower? What if I damage roots as I pull it from its home?

But the truth is, that little plant NEEDS to be pulled from the plastic, and planted in good earth. It won’t thrive confined like that, even surrounded by its siblings. That plastic tray was made to only be a safe starting place.

Don’t stay in your plastic pot. We are meant for so much more.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

Photo sourced from Unsplash.com

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