Green Button

On a bright day in June, not a cloud in the sky
Apart from three wispy ones scuttling by,
A girl in a dark green coat went for a walk
And her mother came too and they had a long talk.

When the girl felt too warm she unbuttoned her coat
And the green button right at the top, by her throat,
Pinged off and escaped, rolling off down the street,
Swerving round cars, bikes, scooters, cats, dogs, bins and feet.
“Yeehaa!” cried the button. “I’ve taken my chance.
I can explore the world, at least as far as France.”

The button rolled through a gate into the park
And he bounced down the path till he heard a loud bark
And there, chasing after him, was a brown dog
Who’d come out with a man, who was taking a jog.
“A nice crunchy biscuit to have as a treat,”
Thought the dog, as he ran on his pitter-pat feet.

Looking for somewhere to roll to and hide
The button was rolling round from side to side.
He suddenly thought, “Grass is green, just like me.
I can hide over there – in the shade of the tree.
If I lie really still and I don’t make a sound
Then the dog might not notice me there on the ground.
I can’t let him catch me – oh no, I can’t risk it
Or I’ll become a half chewed green doggy biscuit.”

The brown dog came over and sniffed all around
But didn’t find the button lying still on the ground
And his owner was calling him, “Clarence! Come back!
It’s time for my lunch and it’s time for your snack!”

So Clarence ran off but high up in the tree
A pair of eyes thought they could just about see
A round green nut that would be tasty and yummy.
The squirrel wanted that nut inside his tummy.

The button saw the flick of the long furry tail
And quickly leapt up to roll back to the trail
And bounced along with the squirrel in hot pursuit
Past a boy pulling on a new Wellington boot
And a lady, on a bench, who was playing the flute
And a girl, by a splash pool, wearing her bathing suit
Till at last the button rolled under a bin
And the squirrel saw two boys with a biscuit tin
And rushed over hoping to steal some crumbs
When they left it to go and talk to their mums.

“I wanted adventure, to see some new places,
To hear some new voices, to see some new faces
But all that I’ve seen is a dog in the park,
A squirrel and a bin, under which it’s quite dark,”
Thought the button as he rolled out to go somewhere new
Perhaps to the playground or maybe the zoo.

Then a man saw the button and started to shout,
“There it is! That’s it – without any doubt!
I lost it from my jacket here yesterday
There’s no way I’ll let that button get away!”
The button rolled faster, looking left and right,
And wishing his green wasn’t so very bright,
But he couldn’t see anywhere he could hide
The grass was too far away on either side.

The button was rolling and the man was running
The button decided he’d have to be cunning.
“I’m on an adventure,” he thought as he rolled,
“I want great excitement before I get old.
His jacket sounds like such a dull place to be
I’ve got to escape him, I’ve got to stay free.”

And then in the playground he saw where to go
A boy on a swing going high, going low
And his dad was crouching down to take a photo
So the button rolled under his shoe, by the toe.
The running man stopped, looked around, scratched his head,
And then went away to look somewhere else instead.

Once the boy and his dad with the camera had gone
The coast was now clear so the button rolled on
It had already been quite an exciting day
But it hadn’t been exciting in the right way
And he suddenly thought of the hook in the hall
Where his old coat had hung, where he had faced the wall.
And he missed the old coat and he missed his old home
And he no longer thought that he wanted to roam.

He stood on his edge, not sure which way to go
When he saw a green coat that he used to know.
There on a bench were the mother and the girl.
The thread that he’d pinged from hung down in a curl.
And he rolled and he leapt back onto his coat
And the thread stitched him back, just under the throat.
And it felt safe and snug and it felt warm and cosy
And after his day he was feeling quite dozy.

The button slept soundly, as he went home to stay
And the girl never knew that he’d even been away.