Saint Francis got it wrong
or maybe he rewrote it
so the brothers wouldn’t say
“Frannie’ crazy!”
“t’ pazzo, Franco!”

Well, they did say that.
But if he’d told it straight
they would’ve said,
“Frannie’s completely crazy!
Gonzo tutti-pazzo!”

For Francis to say,
“I preached the Gospel to the sparrows today”
was fairly quaint in a saintly sort of way…

But,
“I confessed to a cardinal this morning.
A chickadee has forgiven me at sunset.”

Well!

Assisi would have thrown away the key!

And,
“I feed them for penance.
They granted absolution in a fluttering of wings…”

The hooded executioner
would have withheld
the garrotes mercy.