I was surprised and thrilled when a friend displayed this poem as part of a harvest festival.

SEA-SHORE SHELLS

Look at the workmanship!
Tented limpet shell or pearly top,
Ridged or ringed in careful camouflage,
Perfect coil, or even slope.

Look at the strength!
Hands can do nothing here to crack or rip.
Only a rock, with battering, shattering force
Could smash or chip.

Think of the patience!
Quietly feeding under the sea’s swell
Among the rocks and the seaweed, cropping
Material to grow this rock-like shell.

Think of the tenacity!
Huddling in crevices against the hurling sea,
The mighty pull and drag, to suck them free,
Clinging to the dull rock, against the wash and swish.

Clamped in the cliff:
Fossils of these heroes’ ancient ancestry.
Here on the beach:
Last monument to humdrum life,
This tiny legacy.