Protection’s in N95’s, but wait!
We need to save those units for the docs.
A surgeon’s mask will decontaminate
the air; they need those, too. Whatever blocks
the spray of droplets seems good strategy.
Last week we didn’t need a mask, but now
we’re told to don by text and on TV –
Bandanna-folding videos show how.

And sure I’ll cover nose and mouth within,
but I’m a free-range breather when I walk.
My scarf will muffle then beneath my chin –
the sidewalk’s mine – I’ll make no neighbors talk.
(Perhaps the mask is meant to nettle us
to stay inside, where comforts settle us.)