In the poem “Singapore” by Mary Oliver, there is a very important lesson of social acceptance. The poet speaks of encountering a woman in an airport bathroom stall, cleaning an ashtray in the toilet, and the disgust that she first feels towards this woman and her job. The speaker does however, express that she moves past the judgment that she first feels towards the woman in the stall. She imagines parts of nature and wishes to put the woman in a beautiful place in life. In this poem, the poet uses imagery, connotation, metaphor and symbolism to describe what she is really seeing compared to what she is imagining and would like to see.
Significantly, the speaker begins the poem by saying, “A darkness was ripped from my eyes” (line 2). The darkness that she is speaking of is the judgment that she places upon this woman in the stall. She first has a closed mind, a disturbed perception if you will, towards the cleaning lady. To say that it “was ripped from my eyes” (line 2) implies that she did attain a better perception of her. The speaker knew that she should not be so judgmental towards this woman and the job she is performing. It is obvious that she understands she should not feel this way when in the second stanza she states, “Disgust argued in my stomach” (line 6). For that feeling to argue, it exhibits her capability to understand. Bewilderment and dismay overcame the speaker. She feels disgusted by what most people consider such a degrading job, yet so displeased with herself for exhibiting such typical judgment. She displays very conflicting feelings. In the fourth stanza she says, “She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this” (line 17). Such a selfless exchange of a smile has a great ability to shed light upon a situation. It is nonsense for it to be socially acceptable to place such harsh judgment upon someone, and the speaker no longer wished to