March 09-A, 2023

When the next door neighbor's house
was broken into,
we decided the time has come,
and a home security system
will be installed on Saturday.

Since then, four other homes
have had forced entry,
and the entire development
is experiencing vulnerability
for the first time 
in it's 30-year existence.

We live in a cul-de-sac
with eight houses,
and the break-in 
has created a sense of family
that wasn't there the day before.

We all leave our outside lights on all night,
and most of us have
or are installing security systems.
A couple are going for Ring Doorbells
with a camera and recording capability front and back.

So, that's that.
A testimony to where we are
and what's what with us,
and what needs to be done
in light of it all.

It is dealing with the symptom
and not the disease,
to be sure,
but none of us have access
to the cause of the disease,
and have no idea of how to treat it
if we did have access.

We are beyond being able
to trust people we don't know,
and can no longer assume
we are not accessible
to people who would
take advantage of us
if they had the chance.

They aren't waiting for the chance.
Darkness will do.

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