Melissa Lont 1825 - 1911

Melissa Lont 1825 - 1911 How does one as low and humble as I Sum up my life of 86 years In a mere poem as brief and short-lived As life itself? And what is the secret to my long life? What do I know that you, my friend, Would like to know About success and survival? About good health and good luck? My answer is this: Do not complain and do not explain! Never! And as for being married all those years to Doctor Lont? Well, truth be known, like Hera, I knew of my husband’s infidelities. But I also knew to look the other way And pretend to not see or know! I admired Ida Kincaid for her sacrifices to maternity. But I loathed Ida Kincaid for her matrimonial mendacity. At her funeral in June of 1903 I aloofly stood across the way There on dusty Broadway Street Under the bulbous blue jacarandas Screaming hallelujahs! As Mr. White lowered her cream-colored coffin into the Netherworld! And when Doctor Lont, my husband of 41 years, died of the consumption, I did not cry nary a tear! Why should I have? Now I too am resting within this hard ground next to him. Next to the man, my man in perpetual suspenders from Springfield, My man who never ceased being a boy.