No Time to Cry

By Ingrid Green Adams

Ingrid Green Adams is a retired intelligence research specialist formerly employed with the Department of Homeland Security. She is the owner of Green's Consulting Company, specializing in motivational speaking and consultation. She has appeared as a guest speaker for over twenty-six years on the campus of several college and universities. Ms. Adams is a member of the Southern Christian Writer's Guild in Mandeville, Louisiana, as well as Poets Alive writing group of St. Tammany Parish, also in the state of Louisiana.

Having a passion for the written Word, Ms. Adams has published nine books of inspirational poetry. She also works as an instructor, teaching various writing classes. She holds an honorary appointment to the Professional Women's Advisory Board.

In her spare time, Ms. Adams enjoys working with children as a youth Bible teacher, mentor, and tutor. She sponsors several essay contests through her church and local schools. Her hobbies include writing, reading, dancing, singing, and stamp-and-coin collecting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514488553

Ingrid Green Adams

ABOUT THE AUTHOR INGRID GREEN ADAMS is a published author, motivational speaker, instructor, Teacher and owner of Green’s Consulting Company. She has published several books

Book preview

TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

Dedicated to my maternal Grandmother the Late Gladys R. Bennett

Yes, Grandma, you will always be a tough act to follow,

All of my life I watched you bare much pain and swallow,

All of the hurt swelling deep inside of you,

If tears were there you wouldn’t let them appear, it’s true,

Yes it’s true because not a tear did you ever cry back in the day,

Now I stand as a grandmother myself and ask if I may,

Yes, oh Lord, just what kept you going for oh so long?

What kept you Grandma always so tearless and strong?

I’ve been wondering how you did it for so many years,

Because throughout my life I’ve just shed so many tears,

But not you, yes, you are a tough act to follow,

I know in my heart of hearts all my pain I can’t swallow,

Without letting my true feelings show,

I thank you for your love which has allowed me to grow.

Don’t know what my life would have been like without you,

I am so glad you were there always in my past it’s true.

You taught me how to survive while living this thing called life,

While fighting your own battles in silence you handled so much strife.

I can’t imagine how hard things were for you,

But you made things easier for us to go through.

Didn’t need to write much nor read or spell,

It was your stories back in the day now that I do tell,

Yes stories of how life had beat you down,

Stories of how your faith in God always turned things around.

I guess that’s it! Guess I found the key,

If I put God first oh how happy I will be!

Guess that was it Grandma back in the day,

Guess that hope and trust never faded away.

You had so little but then again you had much more,

Still it was all you needed with God to settle the score.

There were many times I’d feel you taking deep breaths it’s true,

Thought time after time she’s going to give up that’s what she’ll do,

But no matter how tough things would get,

You’d look up and say God ain’t through with me yet!

It’s that kind of faith that unwavering faith we still need,

Glad I got to see it because you lived it, yes indeed!

Told you once if I could be half the woman you were I’d be great!

You’ll always remain a tough act to follow for goodness sake!

I will never be able to match up to you,

But thank God I inherited your strength to carry me through,

All the trouble and toil of this here life,

And I know I’ll cry many more tears through all of my strife,

I applaud you for all of those years,

Although life was unkind you refused to shed any tears.

Sleep on Grandma Gladys and continue to take your rest,

As I watched through your struggles I’d say I learned from the best!

HUSH MA CHILD!

Hush ma child, stay close to me,

You ain’t got no time to cry baby.

Yes that’s right now don’t you know?

Our kind should never let tears show,

Because no one really cares you see,

No, no not for folks like you and me.

No one cares when we are feeling blue,

No one cares about the things we’ve been through.

I know they say that times have changed,

But I think their memories have been rearranged.

I think they have what’s called selective memory,

I think they want things to stay as they used to be.

So again I say hush ma child, it’s gon be alright,

Just hush ma child and just continue to fight,

With all the silence that you have within,

Our time will come, be patient, and just grin,

Grin and bear it, yes, all of the hurt and pain,

Then ask God to help you find strength again.

That’s how we’ve made it through all of these years,

It’s been tough but there’s never been time for tears.

So take hope as your prisoner as we’ve done in the past,

Because its that hope that has enabled our people to last,

From the slave ships through our plantation days,

Fighting through the humiliation with continued pride always.

It’s what keeps us going our whole lives through,

It’s what really matters in the end so now don’t you,

Cry ma child so hush nah, hush don’t you cry,

Ain’t no one coming to your rescue nearby.

Better stop and look around at the people you see,

Because our folks, yes only folks that look like me,

Will ever truly, truly ever understand,

How it feels to be considered less than a man,

Yes one of us will only ever know,

The pain we’ve shared within this darker skin so,

Just so much hurt deep down inside,

Yes so much hurt that we decided to hide,

That’s right, it’s what we decided to do,

Because crying never helped any of us make it through.

It’s been our pride and our strength you see,

It’s that pride and strength of folks that look like me,

That prevailed yes that survived back in the day,

So now let’s continue our struggle along the same way.

There’s no time to cry my lil’ baby,

There’s no time to cry for you and me,

So hush ma child those days must stay in our past,

No time to cry about them we must move on at last.

We’ve always had what we needed don’t you agree?

I’m glad we’ve continued to fight in silence baby.

In time our silence will be heard, yes it will,

And as our tearless cries forces time to stand still,

Others will begin to notice, yes it’s true,

How effective our tearless cries were for me and you!

ALWAYS AND FOR NEVER

Say you will and then you won’t,

Say you do and then you don’t.

That has been our story and you know it’s true,

Always and for never that’s the history of me and you.

It was always wrong, yes, for never we should truly be,

It was the right decision, yes, the one for you and me.

How did this happen? How did things go so wrong?

Why did this happen? Why did things take so long?

For us to realize that the two of us could never be,

Guess you were always and forever chasing me,

Guess I was always and for never trying to flee.

Guess we could blame it all on our past,

Guess we both knew it was too good to last.

For always and for never let the truth now be told,

For always and for never not to have and to hold,

From this day forward, oh no, no indeed!

Not the two of us we could never succeed,

While I did all of the compromising oh yes it is true,

Your controlling manipulative ways made me feel blue.

I became lost and so all alone,

Not feeling comfortable in my own home.

I was fighting a battle within myself don’t you see?

For always and for never I was losing me.

Felt so trapped, smothered and so very confused,

Suddenly I knew it was time to finally choose.

Should I stay always and for never or should I go?

Should I keep living this lie or let the real me show?

Decided it was time to finally tell you,

The always was gone and for never was true,

Because we were both too young to really understand,

The true union between a woman and a man.

Hoped in time we would find our way,

But that never happened to us back in the day.

It wasn’t real, not ever, no it just couldn’t be,

That’s how always and for never you couldn’t see.

Yes, you never felt my sorrow or my pain,

I never cried tears only choose to complain.

Thought you would always be there for me,

How did our always become for never eventually?

Well I must say we did give it our best, don’t you agree?

We tried to struggle through much pain and misery.

Somehow we made it with no tears in sight,

Somehow we knew things were never right.

Had made our decision and there was no time to cry,

Kissed our always and for never relationship goodbye.

I’LL KEEP HOLDING ON

DEDICATED TO MY GRANDMOTHER THE LATE GLADYS BENNETT

What keeps us going from day to day?

How do we learn just what to say?

If you are like me you learned these things from birth,

By living around others who proved their worth.

Yes, that’s my story, yes, now do tell,

I saw it, lived it oh so very well.

Yes, my story is like many others,

Who grew up under the protection of their grandmothers.

They were our strong matriarchs back in the day,

Most have gone on home but their memories will stay,

With us, right here, oh yes, right now,

Let’s take a moment to talk about how,

My grandmother and all those of the past,

How they Kept things together so now at last,

It’s our turn, yes, now it’s yours and mine,

It’s our turn to make sure things turn out fine.

That’s why I’ll keep holding on, oh yes I will,

I’ll keep holding on even though time can’t stand still,

Because that’s what my grandmother taught me,

It’s that faith and strong sense of family,

That always kept her through many rough roads,

Barely moving while carrying many heavy loads,

Yes, without shedding a single tear from her eyes,

I watched that Creole woman make everything materialize,

From the darkest of darkness into a shimmer of light,

I prayed with her and felt safe with her always in sight,

Always knowing somehow things would turn out alright,

Always knowing with my grandmother always there,

Always acknowledging the need of her constant care.

That’s the way things used to be,

I miss the days of my grandma and me,

Traveling together on a bus or in a car,

Always hand in hand whether nor or far.

She’d hold on tight with my head covered up you know,

That was needed to keep me safe from the weather so,

I could tell