and so
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- and so
in the town ahead, Bethabara,liveda certain Centurion
by the Order of Rome, S.P.Q.R.
My Son, pausedin the road, thereon
to let the dust of the earthsettle among them there,on their feet, in their hair, upon theircloaks; and staffs,to say
: what of this man paid to uphold the Pax Romana, nothing more
what of he, trained to fight and slay the enemy, little else
but rarely stirs he abed afore the hour of noon
and long stays he awake, through the late night watch nigh in- to the morning
yet never once in many a year, not any one of those in this town
has ever seen him draw his sword, and even so [End Page 588]
faith fully each annum draws his entire and total pay
to which, He pausedagain; then looking, round aboutHim
they then resumed their Way
untilthat day to cancel adebt, in totum
in the City of David, aheadJerusalem
according to Thy Word;there upon a New Standard, Hewould bear,thus, it was inscribed
I.N.R.I.
and so ever fitting for Him, My Sonto be, Hethe Procer Pax [End Page 589]
Carl Winderl is Professor Emeritus of Writing, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego; he earned his PhD in Creative Writing at New York University. Currently in San Diego after completing two years as a teaching missionary in Zagreb, Croatia, he awaits another assignment to Kyiv, Ukraine. The poem "and so" is from his newest collection, The Lost Parables of Jesus (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming 2020).
