Lessons from an Oyster

"There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into his shell.

It was only a grain,

but it gave him great pain.

For oysters have feelings

Although they're so plain.

Now, did he berate

the harsh workings of fate

That had brought him

To such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government,

Cry for election,

And claim that the sea should

Have given him protection?

'No,' he said to himself

As he lay on a shell,

Since I cannot remove it,

I shall try to improve it.

Now the years have rolled around,

As the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate

Destiny ­ stew.

And the small grain of sand

That had bothered him so

Was a beautiful pearl

All richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral,

for isn't it grand

What an oyster can do

With a morsel of sand?

What couldn't we do

If we'd only begin

With some of the things

That get under our skin."