Sorting laundry is a mundane task that most people do on a regular basis. It may not seem like an interesting or poetic subject, but the poem "Sorting Laundry" by Barbara Crooker manages to make this everyday chore into something profound and thought-provoking.
In the first stanza, the speaker describes the process of sorting the laundry into piles: "Whites go in one basket, / colored clothes in another, / darks in a third." This simple act of separating the clothes by color is something that we all do without much thought, but the speaker draws our attention to the fact that we are creating order out of chaos. The clothes are jumbled and mixed together in the hamper, but through the process of sorting, we bring some sense of organization to them.
The second stanza expands on this theme of order and organization by comparing it to the way we try to bring order to our lives. The speaker says, "We try to sort out / the tangles of our lives / as if they were laundry." Just as we sort the clothes into piles, we try to make sense of the various aspects of our lives and put them in their proper place. We try to separate the good from the bad, the important from the insignificant, and the necessary from the unnecessary.
The third stanza brings a sense of hope and possibility to the poem. The speaker describes how the clothes, once they have been sorted and laundered, are "fresh and clean / ready to be worn again." This image suggests that, just as the clothes can be renewed through the process of washing, our lives can also be renewed through the process of sorting and organizing. We can shed the things that weigh us down and start fresh, with a renewed sense of purpose and direction.
The final stanza returns to the theme of sorting, but this time the speaker is not just sorting clothes, but also memories. The speaker says, "I sort through my memories / the way I sort through laundry, / trying to separate / the good ones from the bad." This line suggests that, like the clothes, our memories can become jumbled and mixed together, and we must try to make sense of them and put them in their proper place.
Overall, "Sorting Laundry" is a thoughtful and insightful poem that manages to find depth and meaning in the seemingly mundane task of sorting clothes. Through its use of vivid imagery and clever comparisons, the poem encourages us to consider the ways in which we try to bring order and purpose to our lives, and the ways in which we can find hope and renewal in the midst of chaos.
