I hope the Bard forgives me for mangling his lovely soliloquy. My wish is this has been written with the same gravitas as did Will when he conveyed his famous words.

A poem adapted from William Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy spoken by Hamlet.
By Marie Staight
To Mask Or Not to Mask
To Mask Or Not to Mask –
This is the question. ‘Tis nobler in the mind
To decry and protest our lack of freedom and choice,
Thus spreading this variant to the world.
And by opposing masks – end the lives of the young and weak?
Or nobler still to protect yourself and others
By wearing masks to end
This scourge upon humanity?
Thus to suffer the slings and arrows
Of the outrageous mobs.
For when we take upon ourselves
The burden of others’ freedom and choice
Are we not limiting our time on earth too?
In death, will we not hear the cries of those we denied
A chance to live longer and fuller lives?
It is a conundrum as to whether we will mask
And take the steps to safeguard
Our loved ones and the unknown too
To mask, to vaccinate, to live, or die.
These burdens must we all bear.