Life is a long, difficult rollercoaster for many. Its ups are often as high as they can get, while its lows are through the floor. Despite the trials and tribulations one must go through to live, most people leave this world without making so much as a dent on it. In Kay Ryan’s poem, ‘Things Shouldn’t Be So Hard’, the poet explores the idea of one being able to leave one’s physical mark on the world around them. The poem narrates the life of a typical woman living quietly in her home and doing housework diligently. By using clever word play and honing on people’s emotions, Ryan creates a poem which thoroughly explores the theme of death and leaving a mark on the physical world. By use of figurative language and imagery throughout the poem Ryan explores the inevitability of death, and how one should leave their footprint behind or one will be forgotten. Whether it be a family member or friend, death often deeply impacts the people who are left in the wake of one’s passing. A first…show more content… She wishes the place “where she used to/stand before the sink” (l. 9-10) had a “worn-out place” (l. 11), and the “china knobs” (l. 13) of the sink were “rubbed down to/white pastilles” (l. 13-14). It can be inferred from these lines that the woman whom Ryan speaks about spent a lot of time hand-cleaning her dishes; Ryan wishes her home reflected this small action. To Ryan, these actions are like small rituals that should be documented, because even the little things in one’s life are important in remembering them when they are gone. Ryan’s use of the word ‘pastilles’ suggests the effect a small action could have on the world if objects wore away with use as she wishes they did. She suggests that if the knobs of the sink - while likely not ridiculously large - were to be worn down by the woman’s usage, they would have been no bigger than a lozenge. Ryan also
