Give me a cunning dollar that tells no lie
Better informed
Truth-telling twenties
And fifties that understand

I want to carry
Cracking new money
That knows and loves me
And is my intimate all-looking doctor
Old costly whiteheaded
Family friend

I want my money
To know me like whiskey
I want it to forgive
Past present and future

Make me numb
And advertise
My buzzing feedbacking
Business-making mind

O give me a cunning dollar
That tells the right time
It will make me president and sport
And tell me all the secrets of the telephone

I want to know the new combination
In my pocket I need to possess
Plato’s Mother I want
What knows all the scores
And I want my money
To write me business letters
Early every day.

Thomas Merton. In the Dark Before Dawn.

photo: Thomas Merton & D.T. Suzuki