We All Need Recognition Poem by Francis Duggan

We all need recognition we need others to say
You are quite good at what you do and well done anyway,
You may blush when others sing your praises but you like it just the same
And you too are entitled to your ten minutes of fame.

We all need recognition why pretend otherwise
Those who say they don't dream of wealth and fame believe in their own lies
Though there may be a few exceptions 'twould seem the majority
Of people would not feel happy at the thought of poverty.

We all need recognition it is a basic human need
That good things should be said of us and good things of us we read
But when people criticize us we do not wish to hear
And we feel hurt and offended as negative words of us we fear.

We all need recognition though when good things of us are said
Some of us do feel up ourselves and praise goes to our head
And few if any do day dream of living in earthly hell
And growing old in confinement and dying in a prison cell.

We all need recognition the ego thrives on praise
The old bloke in the bar room talks of his glory days
He feels a bit nostalgic when his prime years he recall
He wants others to praise him he is human after all.