“To be or not to be,”

The question you ask me,

Dear Hamlet, yes I know,

Is “to show or not to show.”

So, I approach you now,

In 3 hours take a bow,

But before then I must see,

What you really mean by “be”

Surely Burbage wasn’t you,

But to “be” you, he had to.

And William sure was not,

Though he gave you every thought.

Do I yield up who I am,

In pursuit of your dark plan?

Or do I simply lend you me,

And through me let you “be?”

Or is it something even more,

Something deeper you call for?

When you say “or not to be”

Are you hinting soft at me?

This deep union you suggest,

Is perhaps the very best,

For if you truly long to “be,”

I must both be me and thee.

~j.d. schofield