Lessons from an Oyster

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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.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

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.

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*Author Unknown*