The title of the poem is “Why, On a Bad Day, I Can Relate to the Manatee”, by Denise Duhamel. The speaker of the poem is telling a story and relating a series of thoughts. The speaker of the poem is a woman. Stanza one starts at the beginning of the Poem and ends at “self-esteem.” The stanza describes the appearance of the manatee. Stanza two starts at “I first met her” and ends at “swam by also.” This stanza is about when the speaker and manatee first met. Stanza three begins at “No one but I” and ends at “the warmth of me.” In this stanza, the speaker wishes that she could help the manatee. The last stanza starts at “On a good day” and ends at “mating for life.” In stanza four, the speaker explains that she is also able to relate to the manatee on a good day.

The figurative language used in the poem is personification. The object being personified is the manatee. For example, a manatee is not able to know a human, “She knows Rodney Dangerfield would write jokes about her if she were more popular.” A manatee cannot resent being called something or ashamed of its appearance. In addition, an animal cannot have bad table manners. For example, in stanza one it reads, “She resents being called a sea-cow” and “She’s ashamed of her crooked teeth, her to big molars that leave her sucking and grinding with bad table manners.” These qualities do not apply to the manatee.

In this poem, the speaker’s tone would be best described as empathetic. The definition of the word empathetic is the ability to identify and connect with another’s situation or feelings. For example in stanza four it says, “On a good day, too, I can relate to the manatee, who knows on some level that she is endangered and believes in mating for life.” Another thing is that the speaker wishes to help the manatee in her time of need. In stanza three this is expressed when the speaker says, “I wanted to lend her my make-up, massage her spine, lend a girlfriend-ear and listen to her underwater troubles.” Both the speaker and the manatee are ashamed of the way they look like. For example, the speaker wore a one-piece bathing suit while the other girls wore bikinis.

  A value that best fits the speaker is compassionate. Compassion is a feeling of deep concern for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to relieve the suffering. For example in stanza three the speaker says, “No one but I paid her much attention.” This quote shows that the speaker was the only person that was worried about the manatee. The speaker and the manatee face a conflict with themselves due to their appearance. The speaker believes that the manatee, along with everyone else, will find her perfect love and in turn spend the rest of her life in harmony. Another value is caring. The speaker wants to lend a hand to the manatee. 

The theme of this poem is, “Often in life having confidence in oneself can lead to a happier future” If the manatee stops worrying about her appearance she will be able to meet a mate that loves her for who she is. The speaker was able to find a person that loves her for who she is, and can now live without the fear of worrying about her appearance. No matter how a person looks, there will always be someone that loves him or her for who they are. There is someone out there for everyone; all you need is confidence in yourself.