I went to the zoo
and what did I do?
I smiled at a tiger –
well, why, wouldn’t you?
I hissed at a snake,
but what a mistake
he spat at me
right in the eye
. . . I could cry!I rode on a camel,
but bumpity, bump –
it jiggled and joggled,
I fell off its hump!I picked up a penguin,
it flapped and it flipped,
it pecked with its beak;
it napped and it nipped.I stood on a ladder
and said to ‘giraffe’,
“you’re very high up,” and
he started to laugh. I chattered to monkeys;
they wouldn’t stay still,
but hung upside down
and made me feel ill.I jumped like a rabbit
and what did I see?
A huge kangaroo
was bouncing to me.I sploshed in some water,
was smelly with mud
when a hippo appeared
with a terrible THUD!Was wet and disgruntled
I needed a rest,
so up came a zebra
and lent me his vest.I’m stripy and warm, yet
I feel all alone,
climbed up on a leopard
and he took me home.
© Nicky Clifford 2016