"Sorting Laundry" by Elisavietta Ritchie

While I was reading this poem, I noticed that the poem is written in three line stanzas. At first, I thought that this might be several haikus mixed into one poem, but then I realized that I was wrong. The simile "like tablecloths for the banquets of giants" is used. This simile is effective and appropriate because it describes how big the bedsheets are. At first, when I read this poem, I thought that this person was obsessed with what she put in her laundry. But after finishing the poem, I realized that I was kind of right. She IS obsessed with her laundry, but she is more obsessed with the person who left her with the laundry. The central purpose of poem is that the speaker is reminiscing over the times she had with her lover, hoping he will one day come back. The tone is very bittersweet, but there is a sense of longing infused throughout. For instance, the author scribes, "if you were to leave me, if I were to fold only my own clothes... a mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side of the bed." This symbolizes that the speaker would give anything to have her love back in her life. Allusions are also used throughout, especially when the speaker talks about "Noah's ark." This is to show that the socks all had a match, just like the animals in Noah's ark had a mate. I wonder if the speaker had her lover literally leave her or if he passed away.