21 January 2011

Nothing

A lot of problems
Are centred around
‘Nothing.’
That word is so heavy
It burdens my heart!
You may wonder why...
Yes, there are reasons.
It is
When someone is meant to do
Something for you
And doesn’t
It is nothing
But it hurts!

Like a child
Born and living
Rejected by her parents
Who were meant
To love her
And didn’t.
They did nothing
And so
That child carries
A burden in her heart
For life – ‘unwanted.’

Like a woman
Treated as a nothing
Used like a plaything
Abused like a beating bag
Yet going on living
As though
Nothing happened.
Everybody pretends
It was nothing!

In all the crimes
Committed in the world
It is never mentioned
The crime of doing
Nothing
When you could have
And should have
Done something
Which would have made
A world of difference
To someone.

Nothing is a dirty word,
It hides a lot of crimes,
Hurt, shame,
Anger, injustice
And the worst of all
It parades around
Wearing an invisible garb
And shrugs off every responsibility
As nothing.

-         -  Henrietta Decruz

What you don’t say...


It is easy to fight over
What a person said.
What many fail to understand
Is that many a time
The reason why
Someone said something
Was because
Someone else did not say anything.

Silence is often used as
A doubled edged sword.
You say something
And yet you don’t say anything!
It is a deprivation
Of a much needed communication
That sometimes causes
Volcanoes of emotion to erupt
From the grieved person
Who wanted to hear ‘something’.

When someone continuously deprives
Another of food
It is a crime.
They are blamed of
Starving a person to death.
But when someone continuously deprives
Another of communication
Which is vital to keep a relationship going,
No one considers it a crime.
And yet a person’s heart can die
For want of fellowship,
The need for self expression and understanding.

The communication we receive from loved ones
Is like sunlight.
It gives us energy, strength and
Keeps us going.
Lock up a plant in a dungeon
Without sunlight
And it shrivels and dies.
Human beings are like plants
They need nurturing and affection
So when you call someone a ‘friend’
Make sure you communicate.

-       Henrietta Decruz


10 January 2011

Growing Up Isn't Easy at All

Here is a song I wrote that has an environmental theme...It was first sung by me years ago at the Annual Day Programme of the College of Social Work. I hope you like it...
Singing at the Annual Day in the
College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketal

Song:               Growing Up Isn’t Easy  
© Henrietta Decruz

Intro:  When I was a little girl, 
           my teacher said to me…
“Look all around at creation….”

Chorus:      
Growing has not been so easy 
Growing up hasn’t been easy at all
What with all the trees that have had to fall
Growing hasn’t been easy at all!

1.      Who knows I’ll wake up someday to find
That there is no more firewood to burn
Some morning when I walk up to the kitchen
No more milk, no butter, no more eggs to eat!

Modified Chorus:       Growing up will not be so easy    ] - 2     
Growing up isn’t easy at all           ]
What with all the trees that have had to fall
Growing up isn’t easy at all!

2.      I dread the day the world will be just cities
When there’ll be no more nature for my eyes
Unfortunately if I need some fresh air
I may desperately have to go to zoos!

Modified Chorus:       Growing up will never be so easy            ] - 2     
Growing up is the hardest thing of all!    ]          
What with all the trees that have had to fall
Growing up is the hardest thing of all!

3.      My heart is filled with sorrow when I think
One day there’ll be museums for trees
My grandchildren may someday have to learn
Through computers the names of extinct birds…

»    Oh I hate to contemplate
This is reality and fate
Someday we’ll no longer be human beings!!!
When you let them cut those trees
You are letting the axe to seize
Your own future and the future of this earth!!!
Oh! How I plead….

Save the trees                  ]
Save the forests               ] - repeat and fade…
Save humanity!!!            ]

Written and composed by Henrietta Decruz