It’s not easy
to be alone
other people
have impatient
waiting-room eyes.
The floor pulls
your steps out from
under you.
You swing yourself
from hour
to hour.
A vocabulary
of about
one hundred words
was not included
when the property
was divided.

The longing for
discomfort
the lack of
strong smells.
Stale smoke
in the curtains.
The bed is
now too wide.
Girlfriends leave
when the potatoes
need boiling.