Laundering Through Poetry

Without a doubt, my favorite poem of the year goes by the name “Sorting Laundry,” by the wonderfully acclaimed poet, Elisavietta Ritchie.  To begin, with a name like Elisavietta, a poem has to impress.  True, it’s no Ernest, but still, “it is a divine name. It has a music of own” (11).  The title and action of the poem reminds me of my favorite domestic activity: sorting laundry, of course! This is a lie, actually.  As much as I love the organization of going through dirty clothes and sorting them by color, I get stressed out deciding whether or not the in-betweens like light, light blues belong in the colors or whites.  I would offer to do all of your laundry, since I am oh so good at the task, but “I don’t like your clothes” so I certainly would not like to sort through them (30).  In fact, “your dress is sadly simple” (47).  But that is neither here nor there.  Back to the beautiful poetry of Elisavietta Ritchie.  Despite the long overall length of the poem, at a whopping 51 lines, each singular line had well under ten words each.  A big thanks for that Ms. Ritchie, you made my reading experience an enjoyable one! My favorite moment, by far, happened in the fourteenth stanza (have fun counting)  when the poem shifts from nostalgic laundering to intense desperation with the line “former lover…”.  The ellipsis certainly helps display that change, but my first time reading through it, I chuckled from the surprise.  I thank Elisavietta Ritchie for the entertaining and enthralling poem, and for teaching me “the Vital Importance of” forgiving and forgetting lover’s issues and never holding on to jealousy (54).