With heartfelt apologies to Jack Handy

To Be, Or Not To Be (Spoken by Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1)
To be, or not to be: that is the question: 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 
And by opposing end them? 

To die: to sleep; 
No more; and by a sleep to say we end 
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wish'd. 

To die, to sleep; 
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give us pause: there's the respect 
That makes calamity of so long life; 
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time...

Whether we dare admit it
This is today's question
Honest if we can scarcely be
It is the only one
Everyday our weary heart beats it
Every night our tired bodies know it
Places to go
Important people to meet
Children to be fed

We may chose to drown the question
As it may seem to us inconvenient
Silencing cruelly as some have done with
Unwanted pets
But if we aspire to the immortal
Should we want more than the eye alone can see
We will never cease to ask
Possibly on some days
Merely to be heard over the din and clatter we will
Scream the words slowly
Today
Will I be 
Me 
Not as you see
But as I know
In my deepest heart
I
And only I 
Can be

dg

2/8/11

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