for the children

it wasn't necessarily a break up,
she said to her friends. we more or less
dissolved our relationship.
melted it if you will, which would
have been apt, had you been there
to hear the discussion.
you would not have disagreed.
but how strange it was to be over,
and yet, still be there,
sleeping in the same house,
taking bread from the same loaf,
unspeaking, and saying more in
the cold silence than words could
ever do. it's only ten thousand
dollars more, plus the alimony, the child
support and half your retirement
and savings, equity in the house,
the lawyer would say.
the owl in her black suit, behind
her too large desk. smiling benignly
as if to say, everything will be
fine. let's end this today. strike
the deal for the children.
you corrected her and said,
but we only have one child,
unless you count her,
the ex in the other room as two,
crying falsely like a spigot
that no one can turn off.