# Surfing swan

*We're finding joy in urban randomness in issue #268 of your weekly poetry shot*

By [trpplffct](https://paragraph.com/@trpplffct) · 2025-10-24

poetry, paris, walkng, urban, nature, random

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> _Is this swan  
> waiting for the great wave  
> or is it just admiring itself  
> in the smooth surface of  
> the canal?_

I was riding my bike, on my way to a certain shop in a certain city, when I saw it: a swan on a surf board in a canal. Cities are filled with these kind of random wonderful images, born out of that compressing of human activity and nature. We all adapt, and navigate life with the constrictions and opportunities our environment confronts us with. We adapt, and find ways to make it work.

There's no use in holding on to an imaginary 'what was'. Everything changes and the best strategy for survival is adaptation. Yelling The Other away is not the solution. The swan knows it: making it work, adapting, collaborating with The Other, that's how evolution works best.

What random wonderfulness did you encounter recently?

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### Poésie de la vie

The promenade plantée, now known as the Coulée verte René-Dumont, is a great example of where nature meets urbanity. A park built on a disused train line. It was created in 1993 and was inspiration for the High Line in New York.

[![](https://paragraph.com/editor/youtube/play.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCa_PjUAG0w)

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*Originally published on [trpplffct](https://paragraph.com/@trpplffct/surfing-swan)*