"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.