A thank you note for a mask

My mask leads a pitiable life
Strapped to my face all day
And yet it protects me and keeps me safe
"Thank you!" is what I'd like to say.

Thanks for all the times in the crowded mall
When I worked the counter
Thanks for the times when the children coughed
When you never blanched or floundered.

Thanks for your embrace
On chilly winter morns
Thanks for sitting on my chin
From morning to dusk, till dawn.

Thanks for coming to the States
And to England, and to Spain
Thanks for the comfort you provide
No matter how much I might complain.

I sing your praises, you scrap of cloth
With your bands of white elastic.
Who knew that the line between life and death
Could be as small as a piece of fabric?