Sense Sonnet - Acher

The Pearl

China's Lao Tzu, before he died,
Gave a small pearl to his one son;
And told him to place it inside
Of a sea clam - a giant one.
As the pearl was nurtured and grew,
So also grew the fortune great
Of the descendants of Lao Tzu.
But, ocean divers changed that fate.
One diver died in the clam's jaws.
The other got the pearl and fled.
Losers by finders keepers laws,
The Lao Tsu heirs went broke, then dead.

Today, the pearl's in some bank vault.
Its clam growth days now at a halt.