Under Things...Tumbling

("Sorting Laundry", Ritchie)



The central idea of this enjoyable poem is to represent the tendency to glorify everyday tasks by adding a significant other. Almost every task is more pleasant if another close person is added; dishes and cooking are seen as a fairly romantic date although these task are rejected otherwise. This speaker seems to fantasying about the lovely everyday life ahead with a loved one. The laundry is used to describe the desired "hungry" bedsheets, many dreams, vacation, everyday actions, changing future, remembering the past, surprises, and treasures. This poem also clarifies the need of "the other half" to fill the voids, otherwise laundry returns to being just laundry. This poem captures the necessity of living a life of love and joy, otherwise life is just mundane tasks. It is important to cherish loved ones and the blessings of life, because the "empty side of the bed" can occur at anytime. Life is more than reaching the end.