Which excerpt from Billy Collins’s “Man Listening to Disc” best supports the idea that the speaker uses the music to isolate himself from others?
as if he were right beside me
on this clear day in March,
the pavement sparkling with sunlight,
In fact, I would say
my delight at being suffused
with phrases from his saxophone—
some like honey, some like vinegar—
And I bow deeply to Thelonious Monk
for figuring out a way
to motorize—or whatever—his huge piano
so he could be with us today.
The music is loud yet so confidential
I cannot help feeling even more
like the center of the universe