Darwin's Goats Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Charlie had goats, it is told,
Evolved from ancestors, meek, yet bold.
In the hills that abounded
In Scotland, where they were founded,
Ungulates loved and multiplied,
Numbers increasing far and wide.

Slopes being difficult to navigate
Evolution became a part of their genetic fate.
On the hillside unreached by many
Goats; kids, billys and nannies,
A way was found for all
To get at grass that was so tall.

They grew one pair of legs shorter than the other
Made it easy to gather grass without bother.
Upside legs just shrank away
Shortened from wear, some might say.
Embedded in their DNA, its suspected
These vestiges of fins were directed.

Those that didn't change by chance
Were at a disadvantage in romance.
Two similar species evolved
Identical in the way this problem, solved.
Some went right and others left
Grazing each slope and mountain cleft.

As these wool-less animal bounded so,
Nothing was in their way to go.
Of course, this required that their way be clear
Of obstacles far and near.
All was good and fair we must suppose,
Until man arrived and decided his property to enclose.

Raised a rock fence in places near
And thus fenced in all of creation's dear.
But as luck would have it, all was not well
For Darwin's goats in this a place did dwell.
When Darwin's goats approached the wall
They found they could not turn or go at all.



So there they stood and would till this day
If sex had not come into sway.
A few right thinking nannies were impressed by
Left-handed billy goats that were not shy.
As Mendel discovered, long before Darwin's fame,
Rolling the dice is the name of the game.
To produce offspring from a variety of mates
Requires dominant and recessive traits.

Those with even legs escaped (as was their fate)
From this mountainside fence without a gate.
Recessive or dominant gene(?) awaits another to discover
All that's know is that these new goats, much ground could cover.
As they walked on legs, as even as those of you and me,
Even useful in climbing fence or tree.

Darwin's goats may not have been: it's true,
No fossils remain, not even a few.
However, before one judges what truth be,
It's important, all the evidence to see.
Much remains as science uncovers.
Nature's secrets in out-of-reach treasures.

Recent scientist, most wise,
Found a fossil bird in disguise (?)
Had four wings they declared
As the discovery they shared.
Feathers on legs and feet
Would some to seem a trick so neat.

But if they had visited a county fair
To see Asiatic's*. They need not stare.
This breed of chicken has feathers
Covering legs so bare on others.
It's a far stretch to see
How scientist(?) could miss this so completely.

Darwin in his day
Sailed to shores so far away.
Returned with ideas most bold
(However, they had been by others told.)
He said that nature once in nitches, restrained
Developed species to fit the terrain.

Huxley used Darwin to advance his cause
Attacking Church leaders and their laws.
Ignored those of different training.
They were not worthy of explaining.
Science must be pursued by scientist only,
Was his mantra, and pure baloney.

Getting monies was his intent
As he lacked funds, Heaven sent.
Communism was his cause
Embraced evolution with all its flaws.
Observations he could readily bend
Any means justified the end.