Her mother and her mother before her
Abandoned their babies at birth
Leaving umpteen thousands of souls
In care of old Mother Earth

Mother Earth gave it her best
But most of the clam kids died
Listening to fish with big open mouths
Who said "Come in, it's cosy inside"

The worst she remembered of childhood
Was getting stuck in the midst of a crowd
Fighting for space and fighting for food
Survival was not for the proud

Greta, however, was no stupid clam
Or maybe just luckier than the rest
For she made it to shore, dug in the sand
And refused to come out of her nest

She said "I've had it up to here with sharing
And trusting what other might say
They're all out for themselves, and so am I
But at least I'm honest living this way"

She sent her thousands of babies
Out into the world all alone
"I made it myself" she informed them
"Now you gotta get by on your own"

So now she needed no one
And no one, she thought, needed her
She'd live in peace to a ripe old age
Away from the fuss and the stir

She thought she was rather well hidden
But obviously not well enough
Someone discovered her hiding place
She'd never been treated so rough

"Hey mister" she cried "I'm a lady
But he didn't speak clam, not a word
Or maybe he understood her
And pretended he just hadn't heard

She was tossed from the sand to a bucket
Full of dozens of her screaming kin
They wailed and bemoaned their fate
They guessed they were all done in

They'd heard in their younger days
Stories about the great chowder pot
They'd never believed it was true
But they'd never heard it was not

Greta suddenly shouted "Be quiet!
I can't stand you all crowded around
I'll be glad when this whole thing is over
The fire should simmer you down!"

But no one paid any attention
In the pot they shrieked twice as loud
Until Greta the selfish shellfish
At last became one of the crowd