Water In My Life By Billy Collins Summary

This poem deals with issues such as racism and discrimination, which is caused by social status. The poem provokes the readers with a series of rhetorical questions that startle the poet himself. The poet uses this poem as a way to make the readers reflect on these issues and think of suitable solutions. The poem is a quintet until the last stanza.

The title is a very blunt and straightforward take on the attitude shown by humans towards these issues. The poet is trying to convey how ignorant we are as humans and we ask ourselves these questions everyday but choose to stand by what we believe. The full stop at the end of the title

The stanza starts off with a simple question but isn’t quite. This question is conditional and is the foreground of the entire poem. What follows this question is completely dependent on the occurrence of the question. This question is written in first person as a self reflection. The use of the word “wake” refers to being aware and mindful of the problems that surround us. The poem then reflects on privilege. The mention of a luxurious lifestyle helps us understand why these differences are being amplified. “Water in my bathtub” is a metaphor for having money in the bank. This suggests that money is one of the main reasons that have created differences and again links to the idea of privilege being the root of all our problems. “Make up” refers to the mask we put on which is socially acceptable and makes us conform to pretentious lifestyle standards. “Taste buds”, again, brings about the idea of social acceptance and that without privilege and ignorance, a person could walk into a world without judgmental views and

“Restart” shows the poet wanting to reprogram everyone’s thought process. It tells us that we are so deep into the situation that the only plausible solution is for us to start all over again. Lines 3 and 4 of the second stanza discusses the problem of discrimination based on intelligence and appearance. “Universal port” alludes to the idea of everyone being welcome without having to need extensions (wealth, intelligence, beauty standards, etc.) in order to fit in. The poet wants create a world where everyone is appreciated for who they are.

The poet has written the third stanza in a first person collective form to include all humanity in his fight for a better world. He uses this as a way to unite everyone. When the poet writes “right civil wrong’ he means the violence in the name of religion and law. He wants us to stop using our differences as an excuse to do something morally wrong. “Natural phenomenon” refers to our stubbornness and ignorance towards the real cause of the problem which is us and not