To read Thomas Merton, we are scold-told,
is middlebrow spirituality.
I never knew that a brow was involved
because I see the barber every week

But I like Father Louis (bourgeois or not)
and his brave travelogues of life and soul,
and that he missed his pen and pocketknife
when he surrendered all through his holy vows.

So, yeah, that man is flawed, as flawed as can be,
and thus, flawed Thomas is just the man for me.