Is evolution wiser than we know? <br />Are we to believe it nothing more <br />nor less, than threats, in holy or unholy <br />alliance with blind chance; <br />survival of the fittest, its whole aim? <br /> <br />And swans, but upside-down giraffes? <br /> <br />Once upon a time… when food became too short <br />for the short-necked to reach the last top leaves, <br />the ones with longer necks, survived; <br />female giraffes, noting this, <br />sought partners for their progeny among the longer-necked; <br />and so, nature stretched her expanding world <br />to – giraffes… <br /> <br />And when the short-necked ducks <br />ran short of food, <br />the longer-necked reached down in shallow water.. <br />the females noted this.. and finally... the swan <br />emerged.. its feathers waterproof, <br />its bird-feet, larger; claws now webbed… <br /> <br />And thus, we sentimental human beings – <br />who cannot add such cubits to our stature – <br />stand and marvel; as those graceful swans <br />make life seem easy… little do we see <br />of where their work is done. <br /> <br />Mother Evolution, so it seems, <br />is liberal with her gifts – <br />here, an ungainly visual joke; <br />there, an elegant white curve of beauty. <br /> <br />Hindus name their holy men <br />as ‘hamsa’, swan: gliding over life; <br />their work, in inner realms we would not know; <br />giraffes –camelopards, as they were called <br />by puzzled Europeans; splay-legged, <br />with ears that look surprised; <br />walking periscopes; waiting <br />for a poet to join them in a question: <br />does Evolution need now, to evolve?<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/swan-song-8/
