“Who on earth would claim that the pearl expresses the oyster?” –C. Day Lewis quote

The Autobiography of an Oyster

Following my narrow escape from the naked pearl diver, I thought it was safe to apply another layer of nacre to the irritant lodged in my shell like the seed of an idea. Alas, the naked pearl diver’s naked sister stayed my retreat, and together they hauled me up from the seabed and rolled me along the wet sand, shouting, “Everybody, come and see what we’ve got!”

I risked a peak, and just as I’d feared, all the naked pearl divers were descending on me. So I clammed up.

But then I thought, “Why deny my destiny? Why not adorn the breast of a queen and ransom a king? Why not be auctioned at Sotheby’s and snatched from Topkapi? Why not come out of my shell and illuminate the legends of the naked pearl divers?”

To make a long story short, I didn’t have to think twice. And, except to write my autobiography, I’ve never looked back.

“What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come about by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an Oyster!” -Anatole France quote