Why does Dawe write about a group of people using just one ‘man alone’? (Homo-Suburbiensis, Bruce Dawe Poetry)

By choosing to use only one man to represent the body of Suburbians, Dawe illustrates how despite the stereotype of suburbia being identical, uninteresting housing, we can personalise it, individualise it, and nurture it to be our own, just like this man’s garden. Just because everyone on the outside is rushing and bustling through the stressful world around them, one can be different, not conform, and break the spell by slowing down and noticing one’s surroundings, leading a slower, more meaningful life.