Philip Levine responds to the ever-rising pressures of the twenty-first century by abnegating all discussion of technology, community, and social reform. He is concerned with the personal, especially the idea of belonging. While is poems are largely centered around his own experience, he writes in a manner which allows the reader to feel a sense of co-ownership in the texts. He spells this out in "Our Valley" in which he invites the reader into his private mountain retreat, the very essence of which is the personal.
While he demonstrates a profound need to remain apart from society at large, Levine is not disdainful toward the general population. In fact, quite the opposite. He is intensely invested in the well-being of the people around him to the point where he must retain a certain distance in order to separate himself from despair and suffering. "Detroit, Tomorrow" is a melancholy but not indulgent piece reflecting a cognizance of suffering which does not directly effect Levine or his life but which he nonetheless participates in empathetically. Levine associates society with the suffering of the underprivileged, a self-replicating, unconscious system, as the ignored but conspicuous orphans of "The Gatekeeper's Children" represent.
