! ! Swan Song Poem by Michael Shepherd

Is evolution wiser than we know?
Are we to believe it nothing more
nor less, than threats, in holy or unholy
alliance with blind chance;
survival of the fittest, its whole aim?

And swans, but upside-down giraffes?

Once upon a time… when food became too short
for the short-necked to reach the last top leaves,
the ones with longer necks, survived;
female giraffes, noting this,
sought partners for their progeny among the longer-necked;
and so, nature stretched her expanding world
to – giraffes…

And when the short-necked ducks
ran short of food,
the longer-necked reached down in shallow water..
the females noted this.. and finally... the swan
emerged.. its feathers waterproof,
its bird-feet, larger; claws now webbed…

And thus, we sentimental human beings –
who cannot add such cubits to our stature –
stand and marvel; as those graceful swans
make life seem easy… little do we see
of where their work is done.

Mother Evolution, so it seems,
is liberal with her gifts –
here, an ungainly visual joke;
there, an elegant white curve of beauty.

Hindus name their holy men
as ‘hamsa’, swan: gliding over life;
their work, in inner realms we would not know;
giraffes –camelopards, as they were called
by puzzled Europeans; splay-legged,
with ears that look surprised;
walking periscopes; waiting
for a poet to join them in a question:
does Evolution need now, to evolve?