Stephen Dobyns' poem “The Street” about Balthus's painting The Street states his belief “that no one can see his neighbor” because of people's concerns about their personal duties in their ordinary walks of life (1). Balthus illustrates people's compulsion towards menial tasks as blinders that obstruct one's view of the outside world. He positions each subject of the painting to symbolize his inherent dexterity and purpose within society. However, we take up his theory according to which individuals consume themselves in their selfish activities forming weak and divided communities. Dobyns elaborates Balthus' painting to transparently clarify the deliberation behind the artwork. The structure of Dobyns' poem reflects the systematic steps of the people within the painting as he clearly interprets their motivations. In separate stanzas, he tells the story of each person in the painting to reveal their deliberate duties. This emphasizes the artist's worldview. Through poetry, Dobyns brings different individuals to life, allowing the reader to more fully enter into the vision of the painting. Balthus's simplistic painting highlights the daily activities of people, allowing Dobyns to observe the importance and value of the many components of a society. Balthus' painting The Road exemplifies an inflexible and captivatingly confused society with multiple roles that distract the reader from focusing on one person. Hughes believes that most of Balthus' themes are defined within a meticulous and idiosyncratic context (Mark 49). According to the order of the stanzas the reader is introduced to the central figure of Balthus' painting. The carpenter's stark white clothes ironically contradict the story Dobyns deduced. The woman with the blue collar... in the center of the card... ves. Dobyns uses expressive images and words to reiterate the characteristics emphasized within the painting. We can conclude from Dobyns' simple words that individuals within a society must connect and communicate to successfully build relationships and community. Works Cited Dictionary of the Arts. Ed. Chris Murray. New York: Facts on File, 1994. 42. Print."Dobyns, The Street." Dobyns, The Road. Np, nd Web. May 16, 2014. King, Janna. "Dobyns, Stephen 1941–." American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement 13. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2003. 73-92. Scribner Writers on GVRL. Network. 16 May 2014.Marchi, Claude. World Artists, 1950-1980: A Biographical Dictionary of H. W. Wilson. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1984. 48-49. Print."Stephen Dobyns." Foundation for Poetry. Poetry Foundation, nd Web. 16 May 2014.