A 10-year-old girl wrote a beautiful poem for the late Jo Cox ahead of her funeral which took place earlier today.
Inspired by the 41-year-old’s life, Ellen Taylor, whose dad, Paul, is head of support for the Royal Voluntary Service, a charity benefiting from the Jo Cox Memorial fund, the young girl asked people to “fight for the happiness of others”.
Paul shared the beautiful poem on Twitter, where he wrote that he is so proud of his daughter.
So proud of my nearly eleven year old girl who sat down tonight and wrote this poem. #lovelikejo pic.twitter.com/hHYcwNX8x0
— Paul Taylor (@WOTMTPaul) July 14, 2016
The poem reads:
“A shining golden sun lighting up the cold grey sky
A beautiful flower in a field of sadness
Stamping down the evil and spreading the joy
Calling on us to do the same
To fight for the happiness of others.
An old man walking home from prayers on a Friday
A young Polish girl serving coffee in a tea shop
Calling every person – no matter their age
Or the colour of their skin – to celebrate the world
And everyone in it.
The sun is gone but we see a patch
Of blue sky showing through the clouds
Fight for happiness
Fight like Jo
Love like Jo.”
Talking to the Daily Record about his daughter’s poem, Paul said that Ellen became interested in the late mum-of-two after she died, asking what Jo was trying to do.
"She became very interested in what Jo was trying to do. She, like many people, never met Jo but wished she had," he explained.
"She knew the funeral was today so she disappeared off to her room and wrote the poem. She came down and showed it to me and said 'It sums up how I feel'."
"My daughter is a sensitive soul. I was really chuffed."
Crowds starting to gather in Heckmondwike to pay tribute to Jo Cox MP - locals pledge to #LoveLikeJo pic.twitter.com/aBh6G7mmVd
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) July 15, 2016
Jo passed away earlier this month after she was shot and stabbed while speaking to locals near Leeds.
In a statement released by Jo’s husband Brendan following her death, Jo vowed to ‘fight against the hate that killed Jo’.
Referring to their children – aged three and five – Brendan said, in a powerful parting statement: “She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now: one, that our precious children are bathed in love; and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."
Let us carry on the legacy left behind, a living memory of all the hard work she put in for all communities #RIP #moreincommon #lovelikejo
— Yusra (@yhussai7) July 15, 2016
