There was once an oyster whose story I tell,
That discovered sand had gotten under its shell.
But a single grain became the cause of such pain,
For oysters have feelings; of that, it’s quite plain.

Now, did the oyster berate the workings of Fate
Which had led it to such a deplorable state?
Did it curse the government or call for an election,
Did it cry that the sea should have given it protection?

No! As it lay with the others on the ocean shelf
The oyster clamped shut and said to itself,
If it’s not possible for me to get out and remove it,
Then, I’ll do my best to get on and improve it.

So the years rolled by as years always do,
And the oyster was caught by a fishing crew.
Now that small grain of sand, which had bothered it so,
Had become a beautiful pearl translucent, aglow.

This tale has a moral to it; for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do with a grain of sand?
And now what could we do if only we’d begin
With all the things that get under our skin?

Anon