Paranoia

It can be infectious.

Our neighbor
in the wake
of our post-Thanksgiving
burglary
has become increasingly
fearful
of innocuous
pedestrians
and comes knocking
jittery and wary
to warn,
her panic
contagious.

And so
in preparation
for Xmas travel
I stash valuables
in nooks and crannies
at the back of drawers
draped in laundry
and in the toolbox
in hopes of foiling
wouldbe
holiday hooligans.

Best to be prepared, some say.
Better still to live fearless.
Burglars and robbers be damned.
For, terrified or tranquil, the winds of winter blow.