Exactly 7 months ago, the breach
occurred. My little office was ransacked.
The violation hurt but didn’t reach
the level of catastrophe. In fact
I’d grown too comfortable alone and mute,
and careless with my shed security.
I noticed but I didn’t miss the loot,
except for threats to my identity.

So first I froze my credit and made calls.
And then I fixed a lock and added more.
But what created stress and travel stalls
was crashing on Manhattan’s rigid shore.
I tried and failed to reason or appeal.
I turned away and, yay, the feds were real.