"The Living Wind"
by Ben Bock

Unchoreographed is its dance in the dark
Far under the starry skies' nocturnal spark
Beneath silver clouds and the flight of the lark
And underneath even the moonshadowed park.

It rumbles and roars and it mumbles and moans;
It blows and it bites and it bumps into stones;
It whistles untroubled through catacomb bones,
A ghostly spelunker in netherworld zones.

It bounces and ricochets off the rock walls
Through mist of the likewise mysterious falls;
Its spirals and eddies in cavernous halls;
No face and no form -- yet a message it calls:

"I sweep the unwanted from way up above
To clandestine refuge where they might find love;
Unfit were they there, yet now fit hand in glove
Into a utopia that's scarcely dreamt of."

A love from afar travels airborne with ease;
A blondish mane wafts in the whispering breeze;
The wind reinforces a bond by degrees;
Two hearts exchange spiritual intimacies.

It transports emotions -- the zephyr is strong;
It bridges the gap between lovers who long
To kiss and embrace and transcend all that's wrong
With distance -- and sing love's mellifluous song.

It stiffens, it softens, it ebbs and it flows;
Its gently delivers the scent of the rose;
It tugs at his cape and it rustles her clothes,
Their secrets its cargo wherever it goes.

It courses through tunnels where nothing's amiss;
It chills and it thrills and it fills the abyss,
Caresses her tresses and carries her kiss
To him who had never known rapture like this.

"The depths of the earth are not silence's sphere;
I deem it alive and announce to all here,
There's life, there is love, there is everything dear,
A truth beyond knowledge, a grand gondolier.

A lifestyle completely collaborative,
They share and they care and they always forgive;
Overtly they love while covertly they live;
While nothing they own, they yet constantly give."

It whines and it weeps and it weaves and it wends,
It swirls and it whirls and it curls around bends;
It moves disembodied, it nudges, portends,
And softly conveys all the feelings its sends.

Down, down and still downward it wanders and strays
Past Dantean depths in the black murky maze.
Secure in earth's womb it curls up and it stays,
Untouched by the sun for the rest of its days.

But let it be known that there once was a day
The wind never ventured below, come what may;
It now pirouettes in the darkness to stay,
Exults and then fades, then crescendos to say:

"The planet I knew is in slow suicide;
Civility gone, nature's laws all defied;
Within lies true beauty, so here I reside;
Below I can sing, while above I just cried."

About the Author

Ben Bock is originally from Ohio but has lived in Los Angeles for the last 10 years, working at an insurance company. Ben, a romantic at heart, has been a Beauty and the Beast fan since 1988 and cites "Orphans" as his favorite episode. Ben only recently started writing poetry but says he isn't quitting his day job. He enjoys baseball, travel and puzzles and created a book of Beauty and the Beast crossword puzzles, which is available through Martin Enterprises, P. O. Box 1211, Burke, VA 22009-2211 (USA). Ben is also the editor of "The Mirror Pool", a quarterly Beauty and the Beast hard copy newsletter. Contact for more information.