Patrick Fogarty
2011 Maryland Senior Poet Laureate

Patrick Fogarty, 77, lives in White Plains. This is his first Senior Poet Laureate award. Patrick and his wife, a 52-year cancer survivor, recently celebrated their 49th anniversary. He grew up in Brooklyn, attended UC Berkeley, and in mid-life, founded a successful east coast courier service from which he is now retired. He began writing poetry, which comes in spurts, after emergency open heart surgery. As his poem reveals, Patrick is a history and archaeology buff. His sign is Sagittarius.

SIC TRANSIT

I sought the ancient realms of kings,
Their temples, tombs, and such like things.
To walk high halls where kings once strode,
Stand on wide walls from whence kings rode

Through gilded gates of great renown
Perhaps to seize another’s crown,
Gain gold or land, dare grow such fame,
Men not yet born would pray their name.

Wish eyes to see their battles rage,
Ears hear the words of seer and sage.
To gaze on silent seas nearby,
View sacred misted mountains high.

And when I found these sites of old,
Built by kings, strong, proud and bold,
Where towers rose to break the sky,
Ramparts, stood stout, begged verse and sigh

Saw no grandeur, no power vast,
But wretched ruins from quiet past.
Time humbled stones, sentinels done,
Still yield to none, save wind, save sun.

I conjure up this age of yore,
When rulers’ rule brought fear and awe.
Works to pass God in His Glory.
The works are gone; they left but story.