[i am an oyster]

i hide
safe within the watertight shelter that is my home
twin gray-green shells. rough outside:
satin-smooth and white only to me

my body:
squishy, slimy, soft, and ugly. is nothing. but,
a mass of organs necessary to survive;;
-it is my destiny to be harvested

my muscle
(my only) keeps them from prying me open
whether to eat me alive or steal my treasure i do not know
they hammer at my shell but it does not crAck

the pearl
lies within me, glimmering, white, and glassy
covering a single, painful speck of sand
(((heavier and rounder each passing day)))

each organ
has, in turn, forgotten what this shining sphere is hiding
but my non-existent soul can not and will not forget--
ever wishing that it would dissolve (my only)

i would
open my shells just to push out that speck of sand
but they would destroy me, the almighty humans
because i am just an oyster, and nothing more,,,,,