Read the excerpt from billy collins's "man listening to disc." and if any of you are curious about where this aggregation, this whole battery-powered crew, is headed, let us just say that the real center of the universe, the only true point of view, is full of the hope that he, the hub of the cosmos with his hair blown sideways, will eventually make it all the way downtown. what message does collins convey in this excerpt? working downtown can be challenging. music is a positive distraction to the routine of daily life. curious people believe the world revolves around music. high volume is much better than low volume.