When the oak tree was only two inches tall,
Did we call it a weed, because it was small?
And say that it would not be a tree at all!

When the whale is a minnow with a small tail,
Do we call it a sea fern and say it will fail
to be anything more, especially a whale?

When the bird in the nest is still in its shell,
Do we call it and egg, and then do we yell,
“It will never be more, we are sure, we can tell.”

When the caterpillar spins a cocoon on a tree,
Do we call it a fungus and proclaim that we see,
That a beautifuul butterfly it will not be?

When a human first starts out as small as a pill,
Do we call it a fetus and say that it will,
Never be more, so it’s all right to kill?

AFS