This is an intensely personal poem. We are a physician couple and often our entire workdays are spent talking to patients and colleagues (and documenting those conversations). Often in the evening we have no desire to talk at all because we have exhausted our bandwidth for conversation at work. Actually the idea came after I read comments from several people on a physician group that suggested the same.
I just got home, now I should be present
For my child, ask him how his day was spent
I should also talk to my spouse as I get
Dinner ready, but I completely forget
To interact with both of them, as I go about
Chores at home, I am quite content without
Needing to open my mouth to speak
My ability to communicate that was at its peak
During work hours has now sharply declined
In peaceful solitude, my business I want to mind
My husband and I exchange notes, and say
To each other that we’ve had an exhausting day
Being physicians, talking to patients without a break
Has taken away the urge to talk just for its sake
Our preteen is more than happy to not communicate
In anything but monosyllabic replies in his current state
Dinner is a quiet and quick affair to be completed
Efficiently (wordlessly) so the daily cycle can be repeated
Post-dinner with devices or books we unwind
In companionable silence we relax our minds
Difficult conversations that I’ve had with patients, I try to forget
If I talk to my family, I would talk about them and regret
Recreating a situation that was stressful for me
I avoid this by avoiding conversation completely
My husband echoes similar sentiments, therefore
On weeknights we hardly talk to each other anymore…
Passion...unbridled 
I can relate to this in a different manner. My husband retired about 5 years before I did. He was home with the cats all day. I was at work, talking up a storm with coworkers or on the phone. I came home and wanted quiet; he wanted conversation.
People who say they don’t bring their work home with them are wrong. It always comes home with us in ways we don’t quite see. Good post!
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Thank you! Both my husband and I are worse about communicating when we have spent entire days in clinic where there is more talking to do- there are a lot of difficult conversations that are both physically and mentally draining.
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