Thomas Merton

At This Precise Moment of History

1. At this precise moment of history
   With Goody-two-shoes running for Congress
   We are testing supersonic engines
   To keep God safe in the cherry tree.
   When I said so in this space last Thursday
   I meant what I said: power struggles.
 
2. You would never dream of such corn. The colonials in
   sandalwood like running wide open and available for
   protection. You can throw them away without a refund.
 
3. Dr. Hanfstaengel who was not called Putzi except by
   those who did not know him is taped in the national
   archives. J. Edgar Hoover he ought to know
   And does know.
 
   But calls Dr. Hanfstaengel Putzi nevertheless
   Somewhere on tape in the
   Archives.
 
   He (Dr. H.) is not a silly man.
   He left in disgust
   About the same time Shirley Temple
   Sat on Roosevelt’s knee
   An accomplished pianist
   A remembered personality.
   He (Dr. H.) began to teach
   Immortal anecdotes
   To his mother a Queen Bee
   In the American colony.
 
4. What is your attitude toward historical subjects?
  —Perhaps it’s their size!
 
5. When I said this in space you would never believe
   Corn Colonel was so expatriated.
  —If you think you know,
   Take this wheel
   And become standard.
 
6. She is my only living mother
   This bee of the bloody arts
   Bandaging victims of Saturday’s dance
   Like a veritable sphinx
   In a totally new combination.
 
7. The Queen Mother is an enduring vignette
      at an early age.
   Now she ought to be kept in submersible
      decompression chambers
 
   For a while.
 
8. What is your attitude toward historical subjects
   Like Queen Colonies?
  —They are permanently fortified
   For shape retention.
 
9. Solid shades
   Seven zippered pockets
   Close to my old place
   Waiting by the road
   Big disk brakes
   Spinoff
   Zoom
   Long lights stabbing at the
   Two together piggyback
   In a stark sports roadster
 
   Regretting his previous outburst
   Al loads his Cadillac
   With lovenests.
 
10. She is my only living investment
     She examines the housing industry
     Counts 3.5 million postwar children
     Turning twenty-one
     And draws her own conclusion
     In the commercial fishing field.
 
11. Voice of little sexy ventriloquist mignonne:
     “Well I think all of us are agreed and sincerely I my–
     self believe that honest people on both sides have got
     it all on tape. Governor Reagan thinks that nuclear
     wampums are a last resort that ought not to be re–
     sorted.” (But little mignonne went right to the point
     with: “We have a commitment to fulfill and we better
     do it quick.” No dupe she!)
 
     All historians die of the same events at least twice.
 
13. I feel that I ought to open this case with an apology.
     Dr. H. certainly has a beautiful voice. He is not a silly
     man. He is misunderstood even by Presidents.
 
14. You people are criticizing the Church but what are
     you going to put in her place? Sometime sit down with
     a pencil and paper and ask yourself what you’ve got
     that the Church hasn’t.
 
15. Nothing to add
     But the big voice of a detective
     Using the wrong first names
     In national archives.
 
16. She sat in shocking pink with an industrial zipper spe–
     cially designed for sitting on the knees of presidents in
     broad daylight. She spoke the president’s mind. “We
     have a last resort to be resorted and we better do it
     quick.” He wondered at what he had just said.
 
17. It was all like running wideopen in a loose gown
     Without slippers
     At least someplace.
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