Sorting Laundry

The first stanza of Elisavietta Ritchie's Sorting Laundry sets up the extended metaphor that continues throughout the rest of the work.  "Folding clothes,; I think of folding you; into my life" (Ritchie, 841).        Each article of cloth gone through by the speaker is full of memories and meaning that have to do with her relationship.  They don't care if their socks match, if their towels are ugly, or if their clothes have wrinkles.  These characteristics signify that the couple isn't bothered by life's little imperfections, they are proud of their own eccentricities, and they realize that their relationship may have its issues.  The speaker sort of scares herself when she thinks of the prospect of her love leaving her.  She swears that, if he did, no amount of clothing, or anything else in life, would be able to fill the void he would leave behind for her.  The couple is clearly in love, but she still fears abandonment.  The many, small stanzas of the poem symbolize all of the laundry that would never be able to take the man's place, no matter the quantity.  She momentarily ponders over a former lover, and proceeds to almost beg her current love not to leave her; she would not be able to bear it.