Years ago, when I was much younger, my dad, who has had a decades-long interest in marine biology, found this poem and showed it to me. He was impressed by two things. First, how bad it was as a poem. Second, how wrong the sentiment is.
Firstly, security? A spawning oyster releases millions of spat. Precious few make it to adulthood. On the other hand, eagles have very few young and raise a much greater proportion to adulthood.
The oyster is made out to be some sort of freeloader, when in reality it performs vital ecological services. When John Smith sailed up the Chesapeake in the 1600s, the oysters were capable of cleaning the water of the entire Bay.
Eagles can fly - which means that they can cut-and-run (fly?) when the going gets tough. Oysters are stuck where they are and have to stick the hard times out.
Eagles are in it for themselves - oysters build upon each other's foundations, and are the bedrock of communities.
And unlike an eagle, an oyster can take a small, insignificant irritant, and make it a pearl.
In an age when people are becoming increasingly selfish, insular, and shallow, maybe the humble oyster would be the ideal rolemodel.
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