"An angel never wriggles, sulks or talks,"
The small boys' harassed teacher told her class;
Then marked out on the floor with coloured chalks
Where each of them should stand. "Nor does he pass
His hamster round," she added testily.
The kings and shepherds waited, smug and proud;
How each rebellious angel yearned to be
A king, or at the least to have a cloud
To sit upon. The shepherds had their sheep;
The kings had cardboard crowns and gifts to bring;
And even Joseph had his wife to keep
Him occupied and stop him fidgeting.
That angels never moved or spoke, they knew;
But what, they puzzled, did real angels do?
