An Asthmatic Runner’s Soliloquy (_Setting: The asthmatic runner is currently competing in the final one mile race. She is a quarter of a mile through the race and is currently in the lead; but sadly she is having a minor asthma attack.)_ To breath, or not to breath--that is the question: Whether it is healthier for the body to breath To stop running and fail the race Or to keep pushing, gasping for air when there is none to be taken. To stop, to breath— No pain—and to stop would mean the end of my race To waste all efforts, and to give up to the cruel world In which we all live. 'Tis a consummation, In secret ‘tis all I wish. To stop, to breath— To breath-- perchance to walk, ay, to rest, For in this rest may breath and air come easily. This race, created to prove me human, Brings pain. But in the end, this struggle brings Respect for nature and its whims. For who will remember my failure at the end of time, The great crowd, the proud parents Cheering in the stands, the other runners, The coaches, or the faces of my anxious Team mates who cheer me on through the race, Who they themselves could not make? Who would keep running, to gasp and sweat Under the burning sun, but to dread of never finishing The race. Oh, this dreadful race, whose bourn thee the dream of winning, I am now failing. And makes me now bear the pain of so much effort Than to fly thee to the finish line ending my misery? Thus the need for breath takes the will of us all, And thus the seductive dream of stopping Hangs o’er thy head save a pale cast of thought, And brings with the enterprise of great pitch and moment With the end so close thy hears the crowd roaring, And now winning is so close--- oh so close, Thy fair Breath!--- I will pursue on to the end May all of my efforts be remembered.