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JOSIE'S POEMS

Reflective Poems

By Josie Whitehead

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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants .jpg
World Poetry Day is celebrated every year on 21 March , celebrating a linguistic expression that people from all cultures can identify with. Poetry can be found in the history of every nation, and brings us together under shared values and common humanity. The most basic of poems have the power to stir dialogue.

 STANDING ON THE

SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

A special poem of encouragement for

WORLD POETRY DAY 2024

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By Josie Whitehead

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

We’re standing on the shoulders of giants -

     They’re the ones who have gone on before -

And they’ve left in our world lots of knowledge:

       And have led us to their 'welcome door'.

 

You’ll see that from Heaven they’re beckoning;

     As they urge you to enter this door.

You’ll feel deep inside you their handshake.

      You’ll know what to build on for sure.

 

You’ll feel their strong tug at your heart-strings

     When you know the right road you must take.

You’ll have learned from the giants before you,

       And you’ll know without any mistake.

 

Don’t listen to negative people

      Who’ll stop you from what you must do.

You’re standing on your giant’s shoulders,

       So build on their gifts left for you.

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Copyright on all my poems

The phrase 'standing on the shoulders of giants' is a metaphor which means 'using the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress.  You may find that your own writing reflects to a large extent the writing done by someone in the past.  I have been influenced by many good writers.

I, probably more than anyone, believe in what I said in my poem above.  Stand on your giant's shoulders and reach out to the world, using whatever talents God has given you.  We all have different talents but we were never born to be failures in our lives and no-one should say we are at any age.   For myself, I like poems written with good rhyme and metre because it makes poetry stand clear of prose, as music makes song.  Josie 

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