THE OLD BUTTON BOX

I have been going through the Button Box today for some craft work and thought of this piece I wrote several years ago and share it with you now.

THE OLD BUTTON BOX

How well I remember my childhood days

And the times when I was allowed

To play with the “button box” ~

It made me feel so proud.

Hundreds of buttons were kept inside

And buckles from shoes I had worn.

All sorts of colours and shades

And snippets of fabrics torn.

Tiny baby buttons from a jacket

Worn from the very start

Of a life that was cherished,

And whose memory was kept in heart.

Buttons from tiny leather shoes

Fashioned in palest blue.

Much much larger buttons

Every shade and every hue.

Buttons from a Sailor Uniform

All metal and shining bright.

Buttons from my Grandfather’s shirt

Very small and very white.

Leather buttons from a jacket

Which had been hand knitted.

Buttons taken from some dresses

When they no longer fitted.

More than buttons in a box

These are memories and treasures fine,

And I was fortunate indeed

That these treasures became mine.

I have the family button box

And my own children have played

With the very same buttons,

And I am glad the memory has stayed.

They have been a maths lesson

In sorting, counting and sizing

And I knew that here was a treasure

That I should be prizing.

There is a familiar and musty smell

Of age and metal and more.

Here is a lifetime of memories

And it’s good to peep through the door.

To see our lives by the buttons we wore

When we were younger and much more aware.

When we saw life as an endless day

And we had hardly a single care.

To see the clothes and remember

The times and places we knew

To look and to see the “Button Box”

As a valued friend so true.

©  Linda J. Vaughan

January 29th. 2002