Sorting Laundry

The laundry the speaker is doing is a symbol of all the memories of the speaker and his or her lover. Laundry also holds the memories itself of the experiences of the lovers. The poem uses sheets, towels, shirts, skirts, pants, etc. to start an anechdote of the couple's experiences. Sheets symbolize the dreams of the couple. Towels symbolze the years after years the spent on the beach. The poem also uses things such as paper clips, dollars, and change to provide an anechdotal symbol to the objects. The purpose of these symbols is to give the reader an idea of the importance these memories have on the speaker. It also presents the reader with an idea of how much the speaker adores his or her lover.