Likes and the Like

Likes and the Like

Where is your validation?

Do you find yourself warmed,

By the accolades earned

From your performance on the stage,

Or that of your social media account?

Is that flashy automobile,

Reflective of your inner being,

Your bank account,

Your parents doting,

Or their dotage?

Is the sum of your investments,

The sum of your investment

In the pursuit of achievement,

Or simply numbers on a page,

Shared with yourself.

What is your validation?

A certificate hung behind glass,

Or digitally reproduced.

A mortgaged home that supports both jobs,

Containing the children,

Your mother asked for.

Is your pride then held,

By having been productive,

Or is it found in a gap-toothed smile,

Lit by your entry into a room?

Where is your validation?

Is it found in what you have collected

That is inert and inanimate?

Is it in the reply you wait for,

Good or bad,

Found on the device consuming you?

Or is it in the wagging tail,

The kneading paw,

The soft sigh of a warm body melting?

Where is your validation?

Is it ever enough?

Cliff Lake 4/20/2024

CliffSongs