To Adam M. Snow - On Melancholy Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Woe is me' indeed
That's not what you should plead,
Instead look around
And see the good that you have found,
Plenty of time to address
The unpleasantness
'coming close, the forsaken morrow.'

So let's begin by saying
There is no telling
What the future holds
So let's instead be rather bold
And taste the fruits from life's tree
Enjoying the best that are free
It's time to bank, not stoke the fire
'Melancholy of my one desire'
For melancholy is a permanent affliction,
Or black bile which lies in the constitution.
But what you suffer is dejection or rejection,
A temporary affliction from which you can be set free
From sadness and the plea, 'Woe is me.'

s

*Crabb's Synonymes, pp 413, Tenth edition 1849, New York, Harper Bros.