by Jane Patten
What did I care of
Fiscal fairness
Divided among
The three counties of
Little Delaware,
With its chicken on a banner,
Its battered boardwalks,
And soybeans everywhere?
Someone tapped me on the shoulder:
An elderly aide, a kindhearted sage
Who needed to impart
Something worthy to a jaded juvenile:
Quiet, please.
Listen carefully.
This man is going to be President—
Some day.
So I listened
And remembered his name:
And waited
Long enough to know
That for some of us
Destiny is late in coming
But just as sure, just as strong,
Needed more now than then.
For numbered years are nothing
When one can last forever and
Four can be disaster:
For fifty can be calming fate
To this time and
To this place.
After retiring and moving to Huntsville, Jane Patten decided to write about her adventures thus far, including growing up in Delaware and her career as a teacher in rural Georgia. She enjoys traveling, creative writing, and spending time with family. Her poetry has been published in Outloud HSV: A Year in Review for 2017, 2018, and 2019.