Kindergarten Fete

There's parents in the back row Loosening their shirts It's standing room here only if you drove in straight from work They're singing about 'Frosty' And it's 41 degrees Then the room lights up to catch it all on a hundred iPhone screens At the little Christmas concert At the kindergarten fête There's Joseph in a dressing gown There's a star hung up with pegs There's Mary holding Jesus by his little plastic leg And two wise men are clutching Frankincense and gold While a third is digging deep for treasure somewhere up his nose At the little Christmas concert At the kindergarten fête It's not quite Marina Prior It's not quite Andre Rieu They're mostly dancing out of time and singing out of tune But they're on their best behavior For the story of the saviour With a toy box for a manger At the kindergarten fête There's tinsel on the angel But her halo's fallen flat She's talking to a shepherd with a tea towel for a hat A piano started playing And a teacher gave a sign Then silent night fell on us when my son forgot his lines At the little Christmas concert At the kindergarten Who knows what fate might bring us Life's not all good news We're mostly dancing out of time And singing out of tune But our children shine like stars made of foil and paper plates Fragile as a paper lantern, held with sticky tape Clumsy, like a concert at a Kindergarten fête