The Townhouse Near Downtown

Now they try to buy a house.
She’s started her position
As full-time librarian

Across the street from his work,
And she still has some money
Left over from her divorce.

It should be the perfect time
To find a neighborhood home,
But, apparently unknown

To them, they’re starting to drift
Apart. Every house feels wrong.
When they find one that seems right,

It only makes them anxious.
They bicker over the price.
This is a big commitment,

Which they know, and they say so,
But they pretend it’s the house,
And getting just the right one

Is why it’s so difficult.
The one kind he doesn’t want
To live in is a townhouse,

And then one day she puts down
The rest of her settlement
On an elegant townhouse

Without his consultation,
And he’s hurt, but he’s relieved,
Since she’s bought them both a door.