Hope like Cold Fury

She took my anger
And flew away
So now, I can finally pray

She was God’s Grace
Before I asked
He gave it through her winging blast

Hidden in
My seeking brush
Hope is His, my fears to crush

He knows my needs
Before I call
This is His story after all

©Mary Grace van der Kroef 2020

Hope like Cold Fury was written to accompany the painting by the same name. The original painting by Mary Grace van der Kroef is Sold.


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Self Controle

To have control
or persevere?
Sometimes the difference isn’t clear.

Intertwined
as braided strands,
taking turns on who commands.

Stand in check,
Is this the way?
Will this, a bit of self betray?

Know the road,
make a goal,
continue on in self-control.

Or hold a line,
say not today,
anger will not have its prey.

Wisdom wields
both as a team,
for neither is the one supreme.

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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Gentleness

Whispers that linger
in the cup of hand to heart.

Feathers that flutter
on words that lilt and dart.
Leaving presence behind like art.

Strength that guards
in silken threads of web.

Holding back sharp edges
with softest flow and ebb,
minding what is said.

Unrelenting,
unmovable gentleness.

How can one possess
this uncommonness,
that embodies love’s caress?

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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Faithfulness

To be a constant
unwavering mass

To last

To hold knowledge
open handed

honestly

To choose a path
and follow through

thoroughly

Never giving up
Never backing down

faithfully

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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Goodness

Goodness done, spreads out like flowing water, touching lives in ripples, gentle waves.

Goodness withheld is missed like a blown kiss, or forgotten rains.

Goodness, action or being? God gives no man this name.
Yet we can walk the path he paved and read each stone footprints engraved

with Goodness spelling out his love, in actions pure, true. Feel the marks he left behind, a map of Kindness for man’s use.

Be it under tumultuous waves, or across a barren earth. May bared feet find Goodness sweet, though blinded, deaf and mute.

Feeling for the good embrace of imprints sacred bed. Walking in His footsteps, know by His Goodness we’re fed.

So sending out His ripples as we slosh through days and nights. Touching countless others with waves of gentle might.

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef

Goodness saw publication at Agape Review on august 21st, 2021


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Patience

Follow Mary Grace Writing on YouTube to be notified when new videos are released.
                            Patience isn't passive
                      but A power held in check,
        ready when Time comes
              to move Inexorably forward.
                PatiencE shows a passion
           for peace iN bite sized nuggets
 unafraid of silenCe
                      wisE in gauging climates.

©2021 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Peace

Present places
present faces
in the moment here with you

Touching sunlight
touching evening
side by side in all I do

In comings
follow goings
always knowing you have space

Quiet moments
hectic motions
anchored inside grace

Such protection
unseen deflection
learning ever to remain

In the sphere
of your promise
knowing every tear of pain

is treasured
measured
in the palm of your hand

Ensuring
your enduring
present peace before me spanned

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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Titles by Mary Grace van der Kroef

Joy

Found in simple spaces
when lights have dimmed to ease
weariness of day from shoulders prone.

In the morning beams
where radiance sings
reserving stage for feathered accompaniment notes.

Shimmers in the shadows
like the fuzziness of heat,
but greats in bells that chime with chirping mirth.

Often hid amid
wide open space
blending with a magic you can not trace.

Given to the few
who look beyond circumstance
to find the lines God painted beneath.

Even when awash,
paying untold cost,
finding treasure hid and hold relief.

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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One Harvest Moon

It’s 5:30 am.

Mr. Moon is peering through my window.

Wearing his harvest glow like a luminous gem.

Pulling the clouds around himself like a soft collar.

Dipping beyond the tree’s top most branches.

Casting limbs and lingering leaves into dark silhouette.

It’s 6 am.

The tinny child at my side sleeps.

October’s chill shielded by our shared blanket.

Mr. Moon, don’t wake her again.

It’s 6:30 am.

The sky is deepest navy blue.

Mr. Moon, your framing glow is dipping low.

It’s almost time to say goodnight.

My day starts with a sleepy blur.

I can almost hear a murmured purr.

“Goodnight little Mother.”

How can I be upset?

Dressed in his best, yet lonely.

It’s 6:45 am.

Navy turns to dusky blue.

I have almost lost his golden view.

His exit bringing frosty fog that creeps and crawls.

It’s 7 am.

Sky now misty purple.

How I wish he’d come again.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef


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Never Empty/Ekstasis Magazine

Reviving the Christian Imagination

Covering creative culture with Christianity Today

“Within the pages of Ekstasis, we exhibit arts and letter that reflect the depths of Christian life.”

– from the Ekstasis Magazine About Page –

I have found the pages of Ekstasis Magazine, both online and in print, to be a place of great beauty and deep thought, reverence and worship, joy and celebration.

I would like to thank the editorial team for including my poem “Never Empty” in their Autumn online lineup.

I invite you to visit them and enjoy the many rich works of writers/artists of all kinds.

“Ekstasis publishes work that slants toward the triumphant and glorious aspects of life in Christ, framed through the arts and literature. Ekstasis is based in the work of Beautiful Orthodoxy, as defined by Christianity Today.”

– from the Ekstasis Magazine About Page –

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