A Man Alone

She used to scold him endlessly each day
while tidying up his scattered detritus:
messed-up papers, clothes left crumpled in a heap,
and dishes piled at random in the sink.
But now, as he returns home from an aimless walk,
the newspapers, the dishes and the clothes
remain just as he left them hours before,
and he, un-nagged, will tidy them away
in silence, but for the ticking of the clock,
his only conversation of the day
a muttered ‘Thank you’ to a checkout girl.