The Selfish Shellfish

by Frank Luger

Once upon a time in a deep blue sea
In a bay of beauty that’s rare to see
Among a myriad colorful shellfish
There lived an oyster- resentful, selfish…

He thought he was just an ugly scallop
Of course he got wallop after wallop
Imitating the majestic lobsters
Irritating the domestic oysters…

Fed up with mockery he could not stand
He tried to burrow deep into the sand
Until near-suffocation forced him back
Onto his usual self-torture track…

Then he tried to run away but failed
Thus with painful self-disgust he ailed
So much that his shell remained tightly shut
All his life lacking pride with which to strut.

Tho' a grain of sand bothered him inside
And his neighbors kept on chiding outside
He stubbornly refused to be of use
And preferred to clam up without excuse.

He knew that wasting life is a sad crime
And that selfishness gave him a bad time
Yet he kept wallowing in self-pity
While dreaming about his divine city.

Slowly washing ashore he dreamed away
But one day he awoke to a sunray
The radiant heat of which meant his death
Unless he repented with his last breath.

His grain of sand, grown into a tumor
Suddenly cracked his dry shell and humor;
There burst forth a pearl such as never seen
To delight God forever with brilliant sheen.