.
Creak of staircase sounds.
Eyes through spindles peering.
“I’m thirsty Mommy.”
.
The clock ticks constant.
Refrigerator purring.
Air through nose louder.
.
Rolling over, pops.
Rejected sheets whisper,
one more bathroom trip.
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
At Calla Press, we are unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and we desire to glorify His name above all else.
– SAMANTHA CABRERA, Calla Press Founder and Editor
It blessed me to be in the right online writing group at the right time to hear Samantha Cabrera’s announcement about reopening Calla Press. What a job they have done. The new website is gorgeous and the stories and voices they are amplifying do just what they claim their mission is all about. Glorifying Jesus Christ.
Calla Press is a Christian literary journal publishing articles, poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative none fiction, and photography.
– Calla Press Website
A huge thank you to the team for including my poem ‘Hope‘ in their web publications. I invite you all to head over to their website and read my piece, as well as the many other great words you will find there.
Mary Grace van der Kroef
Note: They receive submissions for the website on a rolling basis, and publish a print issue once a year. Submissions will open for that print issue in September.
Maybe it’s not the scribbles of a pencil for you, but we all have ideas we discard.
Do they scream at you from the wastepaper basket? Have your dreams died before you realised them? Did you fail mid way through? Did you cast them aside before you even tried?
Try again.
Every crumpled paper is a stepping stone.
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
Photo sourced from unsplash.com.
I have been following Global Poemic for some time now, as they highlight words and artwork about the worlds experiences through Covid-19. I have enjoyed the many perspectives and experiences. Each of us has dealt with the stresses in our own way. Each of us has had to find our own way to wade threw the much of the last two years. It’s not over, but I am honored to have my piece ‘Stealing Visits’ stand alongside the works of other poets and writers as we seek to highlight our individual and collective battles.
Thank you to the Curators for reading and accepting my simple, but heartfelt peace.
Note: They are no longer accepting submissions as the project was meant to only continue for short time.
We thank all the poets and artists who contributed work. Global Poemic will publish accepted poems through July 2021 and will, after that, remain live online as an archive of what we have shared.
The Curators at Global Poemic
Mary Grace van der Kroef
I am much more of a night owl than a morning bird. I love the quiet whined down after a long loud day. Because of that, I have only caught a very few sunrises, yet, they are a miracle that happens every day.
What beauty have you been missing out on? Why?
I think it’s okay to be a night owl, and now catch every sunrise, as long as I remember it still happens, and it’s a gift.
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
Photo sourced from Unsplash.com
Only people
the flame of soul
is all you take
to heaven, you know.
All else crumbles
to dust and ash,
but flames of soul
are made to last.
All bodies
fall away, decay.
Wrappings mortal
times earthly prey.
But flames slip
through gaping fangs.
From eternity’s
edges to hang.
Emptied hands then
have a choice.
Hellish solitude,
or gems with voice.
Only people,
treasures that last,
are worthy to store
or to Jesus’s feet cast.
© 2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
A few months ago my new friend Andrea Sandefur reached out to me and asked if I would like to be featured in The Creatively Christian Podcast by Theophany Media. Well, today my episode has dropped and I am so excited to share our conversation with all of you!
Whether you are an artist, or an art lover, a writer, a reader, an actor or just someone who loves to sit back and watch other create, I encourage you to head on over to their website and check what they are all about out. My episode can be found my following the links in the opening paragraph of this email. Or search for The Creatively Christian Podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
My favorite place to catch the podcast is via their YouTube channel. If you enjoy watching video of the people you are listening to, this is this place to do it! If you enjoy what you hear, make sure to share the podcast with those you think would also love it. Not just my episode either, but all of them!
Thank you everyone,
Mary Grace van der Kroef
I love to watch the shadows grow. Some times the time goes fast and sometimes is crawls, but it’s always a blessing to watch.
When we rest, the world doesn’t stop spinning, time doesn’t stand still. But something inside of us changes and slows, and maybe even grows. Have you felt it?
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
Photo sourced from Unsplash.com
Crumpled paper
creased beyond repair,
cast in exasperation
from a corner, glare.
Proof of irritation
an act of my contempt
for this, my situation
for being nonexempt.
A deadness percolates
thoughts refuse growth
the thing one loves,
slowly steeped in loath.
All a point of view
mutilated page
silence feeding ghosts
rising poets rage.
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
There is power in poetic verse. Words roll off the tongue like music and lose us in the sway of emotions that flood each word. But what about the messages hidden within poetry?
There are many ways to hide truths and or lies behind emotions. Often poetry takes us on a path we don’t control and we discover answers to questions along the way. But not always. If the engine that drives a piece is emotion, it’s inevitable that the author will sometimes get it wrong. After all, we need many more things than love to survive this world, and those that love should definitely still use the phrase, “I’m sorry.” Still, poetry has at one time taught us these things as truth.
How do we sift through the half-formed thoughts, fragmented ideas, and coloured emotions of poetry? Is it worth it? It is, especially when the poet speaks to us of their own personal story, with words that journey to understanding.
I say, you will never find gold if you are not first willing to sift the rivers for it. Maybe that is what a poet is. A prospector, braving the cold river of emotion, the pan of language in hand, searching the sediment of life for nuggets of truth. Will we find gold? Or pyrite? Or nothing but unwanted rocks?
You will never know until you are willing to jump in that river or start a poetic journey. The key is to understand it’s a journey, and a fragment of a journey, not a whole.
I thank God every day for the gift of the written word, and the gems I have found in the gift of poetry. But I also know, not every word I write is truth. They are expressions of emotion. I am also aware that the things I believe in this moment will change, as it should. Life is continually teaching us. A person who stays the same is a person who never grows.
I pray I can grow with open eyes and mind, ready for the truth, but also aware of the lies. For searching for both is necessary for growth.
©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef
Mary Grace Writing 