I only want to do the donkey work!

Every school must have one, the Christmas Nativity, Poor Tom was feeling so depressed at all the activity. He wanted to be the donkey, or even have Joseph’s part, He’d read the parts so nicely and knew them all by heart. He knew he’d be a great donkey as he had a cheeky grin, And Mum and Dad in the audience would be so proud of him. He believed he’d make a good Joseph, walking by Mary’s side, He could smile and beam in every scene and exude a wondrous smile. The part he got he did not want, the innkeeper was he, All dressed up, one word to say, he felt it, oh, so twee. The single word was two letters long, his prowess he could not show, He stood there in the doorway and all he said was ‘No’. Rehearsals were, as always, endless, the teachers would sometimes shout, And Louise, who was Mary, was very soon booted out. Over and over they did their parts, his patience was wearing thin, Remembering always to say just ‘No’, ’cos there was no room in the inn. Then came that day in December when parents settled down to see The lower school perform that year’s production of Nativity. Everything was going fine until the innkeeper, young Tom, Said: ‘Yes, of course you can, come in, sit down, I’ll put the kettle on.’ Paul Scrivener, Westoning, Bedford.