Absent
They say it in assembly
almost every week
how proud they are, how very impressed
at all the students who have achieved
100% attendance.
When I has a cold last week
I begged my mum to let me go to school.
She said
And get the rest of your class sick?
Absolutely not.
I stayed home on Wednesday AND Thursday.
On Friday at assembly,
they said
how proud they are
of all the students who have achieved
100% attendance.
And I thought,
I didn’t ask for a cold.
But I did ask to go to school.
almost every week
how proud they are, how very impressed
at all the students who have achieved
100% attendance.
When I has a cold last week
I begged my mum to let me go to school.
She said
And get the rest of your class sick?
Absolutely not.
I stayed home on Wednesday AND Thursday.
On Friday at assembly,
they said
how proud they are
of all the students who have achieved
100% attendance.
And I thought,
I didn’t ask for a cold.
But I did ask to go to school.
This poem is copyright (©) Annelies Judson 2026
About the Writer
Annelies Judson
Annelies Judson is a children's author and poet from Aotearoa New Zealand. She
loves cooking, cricket and her kids (not in that order). She also has alopecia, but
that is neither hair nor there. Her debut picture book, Turkey Hurly-Burly, was
released by Scholastic (NZ) in 2025. You can find her at anneliesjudson.wordpress.com
