! ! Swan Song

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?