Obligatory

She settled. He settled. They settle a lot
without fights because neither one cares.
She settles for watching the shows that he likes
as they settle in widely spaced chairs.
He settles for alternate Fridays; the sex
is mechanical, clean, and condensed.
She picks up his cleaning, he washes her car;
in a cycle of debts recompensed.

It’s over. They’ve settled in different states;
new houses, new friends, new careers.
Unsettled, the lawyers fees set them both back,
but they live richer lives in arrears.