There once was an oyster whose story I'll tell --
Who found that some sand had slipped under his shell.
Just one little grain --but it gave him much pain --
For oysters have feelings --although they're quite plain.
Now did he berate the working of fate --
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
No! He said to himself, as he lay on the shelf,
"If I can't remove it --I'll try to improve it."
So, the years rolled by as years always do,
And he came to ultimate destiny --stew!
But the small grain of sand which had bothered him so --
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.
Now this 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
To enrich all those things that get under our skin.
- Anon.
