The Seven Sorry Mountains

I let Thomas Merton loose at the zoo.
He favored Burmese tigers.

He spit holy water at the cobra
which squirmed like a Buddhist novice.

He showed Ernesto Cardenal how to prey upon the poor.
The ones who couldn’t afford a trip to the zoo.

He built a crucifix from the ivory
of two slaughtered Indian elephants.

Oxen kept a wary eye on him.
Tired, he went home to get electrocuted by a lamp.

A military plane flew his body back to the States
where it lay unclaimed by its God.