Finding Comfort

The two poems “The Path to the Milky Way Leads through Los Angeles” by Joy Hargo, and “A Bedtime Story” by Mitsuye Yamada both present themes of nature and culture. In Yamada’s poem, a clash between American and Japanese cultures is brought into view when a perspective of nature is contrasted. Likewise in Hargo’s poem, a clash between American and Native American culture is seen when the theme of finding comfort in nature appears.

The poem by Mitsuye Yamada is about the speaker’s Papa telling an old Japanese legend of an old woman. The woman in the story went around town looking for a place to stay the night, but no one offered any shelter. As a result, she found rest at the top of a hill which overlooked the town, and by nighttime she was able to see a wonderful sight of nature at night. The old woman goes on to say, “Thank you people / of the village, / If it had not been for your / kindness / in refusing me a bed / for the night / these humble eyes would never / have seen this / memorable sight.” The fact that she thanks the people of the town and calls them kind just goes on to show how humble of a woman she really is. This poem really nails in the theme of how different cultures can find comfort in different ways. The child listening to the story of his Papa would probably be expecting a comfortable bed to stay the night. However, the old woman in the story was able to find comfort under the full moon in the night sky. The comforting moon that appears goes on to suggest that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The poem by Joy Hargo is recent poem about a Native American experiencing the foreign culture of Los Angeles. The speaker, who is Native American, is able to see both the beautiful and strange aspect of this American society. The speaker finds beauty in the nature in the city, such as the night sky and the feeling of the summer season. Similarly, the Native finds strangeness in the fact of how Americans are heavily obsessed with material possession and becoming famous. Despite the strangeness in the culture, the speaker is still able to “find(ing) gold in the trash of humans’ and to “collect the shine of anything beautiful.” Nature is the gold and beauty that the speaker finds comfort and is able to relate back to her own culture. Once again, the theme that beauty is in the eye of the beholder appears.