I Don't Need Your Applause~ Poem by Franklin M Kline

I don't need your validation
I validate myself.
I don't chase your cheers,
I don't beg for your praise.
I know what I love,
I know what I feel,
I know what I am,
And I know what is real.

I'll still strum my chords
And lay my lyrics out thin
Each line a piece of my pain,
Each verse born from within.
Each melody a scar
Turned into a sacred hymn,
Proof that I've been through hell,
But the pain that I feel, I will never let it win.

You could hate what I do,
You could spit on my name,
But I'll still be right here in the flesh
Playing my guitar and writing my poems
Come sunshine or rain
And you can try to break me
But your efforts, they will be in vain.

It is not for attention.
And it's not for the feed.
But because this music is who I am,
And these words my soul, they feed.

Even if the crowd doesn't listen,
Even if I never have a single fan,
I'll still write for my healing,
And I'll still play as long as I can.
Because what I do is for me,
And what I do is for real.
What I do, it is true,
And I will do what I feel.

So let them scroll past,
Let them mock my sound.
Let them pretend not to see it
Just to save face around town.

I'll still strum.
I'll still speak.
I'll still play.
I'll still sing.
Because my voice is my sword,
And my soul, it is free.

I Don't Need Your Applause

So please just do you.
'Cause I got to do me.