Thomas Merton's Destiny
He lived to a higher standard,
So it should be no surprise
That his unexpected death
Was met by the standard lies.
All Poems by David Martin
Thomas Merton's Martyrdom
They say his death was meaningless.
That's what they want us to swallow.
But in light of all the evidence,
Their argument rings hollow.
His life was full of purpose,
But we must to the world confide:
His words had no more meaning
Than the things for which he died.
The Thomas Merton Assassination
For reason of state
He had to be killed.
For reason of state,
Blood had to be spilled.
You're oh so naive
To expect moral purity
The man had to die
For our nation's "security."
Your thirst for the truth
Will just go unsated.
Our reason of state
Can never be stated.
Post-Christian Man
Look up to the organization
With the proper awe and fear.
Bow down to your earthly betters,
And safeguard your career.
Neither sun nor moon will smite you
In daytime or at night,
If you keep your waters waveless,
Regardless of what's right.
Your temporal protectors
Will neither slumber nor sleep,
As long as you are one
With the company that you keep.
With sovereignty unchecked
By any Higher Power,
The purposeful collective
Displays its finest flower.
That purpose is whatever
Our vulgar fancy wills
When no one's eyes are lifted
Unto the Psalmist's hills.
(Psalm 121 updated)
Thomas Merton Fairy Tale
Merton slipped and had a fall
And landed on his head.
A "banana peel" was introduced
Long after he was dead.
The slippage didn't make much sense;
It could give a skeptic pause,
So a prop was trotted out
And offered as the cause.
For almost half a century
The subterfuge held sway.
The men who took Tom Merton's life
Had everything their way.
Now the veil's been torn away;
The crime has been revealed,
While his "devotees" act as though
They wish it were concealed.
You'd think that they would surely know
That this makes them look bad.
Are they just embarrassed at
How badly they've been had?
Epistemological Mystery and Thomas Merton
How have the narrow and the gauche,
Flaunting “econ,” “psych,” and “soash,”
Eclipsed their intellectual betters,
Our once exalted men of letters?
They’ve certainly never shown that they
Have more perceptive things to say
About life’s deeper mysteries
With formulae and indices
Than our tested bards and sages
Whom we’ve trusted through the ages,
But for no reason demonstrated,
Our literati abdicated…
Except for Merton,
Who was assassinated.
Wise Monkeys?
Why haven't they looked into Merton's demise?
Here's what's occurred to me:
Our scholars have all averted their eyes
Out of fear of what they might see.
Learning from Experience
The Sanhedrin really blew it.
At the time, nobody knew it.
But once they saw how everything went,
They wished they'd contrived an "accident."
So Wrong about Thomas Merton's Death
To the tune of Patsy Cline's “So Wrong.”
We've been so wrong
For so long;
About how Merton died,
We were wrong, oh so wrong.
We've been so wrong
For so long.
How could we guess
That they'd fool us like this?
We were wrong.
Ever touched a bad fan.
That was just a ruse.
What Merton got
Was the fruit of a plot.
You must know whose.
We were so wrong
For so long;
Now we've seen the light,
And we must make it right.
We were wrong.
No shower-wet hand
Ever touched a bad fan.
That was just a ruse.
What Merton got
Was the fruit of a plot.
You must know whose.
We were so wrong
For so long;
Now we've seen the light,
And we must make it right.
We were wrong.
Thomas Merton's Hermitage Orientation
Said Merton to Abbot James Fox,
"You know that I'm not so inclined,
But back at the big Trappist box,
There are those who are you will find."
Too Much Knowledge about Thomas Merton's Death
Could it be we've learned too much?
If charged, we must confess.
We would be more popular
If we knew much less.
When we "knew" what others "knew,"
Everything was great.
Merton pros had not consigned us
To a "pariah" state.
Education's big with them
And ignorance the foe,
Except for those disturbing things
That they don't want to know.