Mission Earth

They came as tiny, little 'men'
In every shade of green
They inhabited every tiny den
With intent not to be seen.

Light as the noon runners they shone
And, darker than the bulbous leaves
Or the diluted greens, raw and undone
With scaly arms under pale sleeves.

Were they from Venus or Mars
Or Jupiter or fiery Mercury?
Or Plutonians with super cars
Or Saturnians, slimy and slurry!

They went around in big groups
And moved too swiftly for the child
He observed them as they swung loops
And with one another were mild.

Eyes opened wide and a-ear for all
He slowly dared closer to the hedge
He was going to report and shout a call
To mom, dad and Sally over the edge.

He had heard Sally talk aloud
Something about 'little green men'
Arriving over the dark blue cloud
And inhabiting a small, dark den!

Since then he had dared to stray
And sneak on the little chaps
All of his six years and one day
He devoted to drawing route maps.

Unable to control himself any longer
He ran the path for all discovery's worth
And sped down the hallway stronger
That he would bust Mission Earth!

"The Martians, the Martians" he screamed
As he panted up the cobbled garden walk,
"They are here, Pa, like Sally dreamed,
And they, I think, are talking the talk!".

But this earthling was in for a big surprise
When he heard Sally being guided and ground
By father who was all knowing and wise
On her sci-fi speech - 'If Martians were found!

He stopped in his tracks and shot a glance
At Pa, who was beginning to stretch and yawn,
"Come soon", he said anyway, all a-prance,
"It'll soon be over, by tomorrow's dawn!"

All the prattle and the face all red
Got Ben daddy's attention and hand,
Together they raced to the flower bed
And Ben pointed to the loose sand.

"Look, pa, its really 'Mission Earth'
They have been here quite a while,
The Martians have their own berth
Under our hedge for a whole mile!

They have four legs and a pointed nose
They run so fast, but I kept good guard
These creatures think we don't use the hose
And have made their home in our yard!"

Father smiled and placed one on his thigh
"Look, Ben, this one here, from the pole,
With the long green tail and nose held high
Is a beautiful, graceful, green anole!"