A soldier's curse is not the copper pay, <br />stationed here in this gods-forsaken place! <br />I'd bribe a centurion to leave today. <br /> <br />Anywhere! —lug my shield on the Appian Way <br />or guard the quarry slaves in rocky Thrace. <br />A soldier's curse is not the copper pay. <br /> <br />The land is weary, fit for thorns and clay. <br />The towns are crowded with a bearded race. <br />I'd bribe a centurion to leave today. <br /> <br />This hill is bald as a skull, cold and gray, <br />—and I left my woolen tunic back at base! <br />A soldier's curse is not the copper pay. <br /> <br />Sentry for rebels crucified today— <br />last year in Rome I won a chariot-race! <br />I'd bribe a centurion to leave today. <br /> <br />This one I know: I heard the governor say <br />'Ecce homo! ' (I don't forget a face.) <br />A soldier's curse is not the copper pay. <br />I'd bribe a centurion to leave today.<br /><br />William F Dougherty<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-roman-sentry-s-friday-duty/
