Michael

Michael fell asleep in class last week,  

face down on the desk.  

Spark out in the middle of maths.  

Mr Jones told us off for laughing, but  

didn’t seem cross with him at all.  

 

Michael plays alone at break.  

He just stands, staring into space,  

watching the sky. Looking odd.  

But the teacher on duty always goes  

over and chats to him.  

They never do that for us.  

 

Michael only has a biscuit in his lunchbox  

most days so the cook gives him stuff  

for free.  

 

Michael never takes his shoes and socks off  

even when we do gym or dance  

and Mr Jones lets him –  

we all have to do it barefoot.  

 

Michael gets loads of stickers  

and certificates off all the adults  

whenever he does anything. 

 

Once, Leah swears she saw the Head,  

Mrs Malone, wipe away a tear after she’d  

seen his book and he’d only written a sentence.  

 

Michael must be really lucky.  

 

Matt 

Copyright: from Being Me (Otter Barry, 2021), © Matt Goodfellow 2021, used by permission of the author and publisher.

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