Tiger Day

A tiger came to school today,
just wandered in,
prowled around the classroom,
upended the bin.

The teacher tried to shoo him out -
the kids were so excited.
The tiger took no notice
though he hadn’t been invited.

The Head arrived and ticked him off,
said It’s against the rules.
We can’t have big cats wandering in;
they don’t belong in schools!

The Caretaker tried to drag him out
but the tiger gave a roar
and the poor man was so terrified
he ran back out the door!

So the teacher just ignored him
and got on with the lesson.
The pupils were as good as gold,
no chattering, no messin’

The tiger, meanwhile, walked around
and sniffed the children’s books,
chewed felt tips, a piece of chalk
and gave them funny looks!

But when the school bell rang for break -
time for play and laughter -
the pupils filed out to the yard
and the tiger trotted after.

He didn’t eat the children
as the teacher may have feared;
he ambled through the school gate
and simply disappeared.

And truth to tell they missed him,
the Maths test went ahead.
What seven-year-old would not prefer
a tiger day instead?