Wind Fantasy - edit2, title change

[Achebe]

'Manacles' goes well with 'arrest' although of course the wind only bounces off.
A nit - I'm unclear about the question 'what leads us to prefer' - your conclusion suggests that in fact we do not prefer wind to coal.
My day job is in energy economics research, so enjoyed this!

Edit: saw your spoiler note. Whatever your views on climate change, gas is a lower carbon alternative to coal and works well for the base load.

Wind Passes


Who has a thing to say about the wind?
To old-time sailors driving, shifting force;
it made excuse for lovers who had sinned,
then called each other feathers blown off-course.
Today we see mere random particles
with wind their average speed, direction, scent,
arrest its gusts in windmill manacles
to power each home’s snug establishment.
But wind’s inconstant, fleeting as desire -
what leads us to prefer its fickle flow
to take the place of coal’s pent saffron fire,
a racing rush displacing steady glow?
We’ll have our breezy flutter but return
to hard-mined coal and constancy’s long burn.

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(If only this were just an engineering matter!   )