A Comparison of Two Poems

Both Takashi’s poem, ‘The Blade of Grass in a Dreamless Field’, and SadokoKuriha’s poem, ‘When We Say Hiroshima’ were written during a terrible time in the human race’s history, the bombing of Hiroshima. The Blade of Grass in a Dreamless Field is a poem written in English where as When We Say Hiroshima is a poem written in Japanese and then was translated to English.
The blade of grass in a dreamless field is a very personal poem in which Takashi reflects upon his experiences of the Hiroshima bombing. It’s a journey of his healing and forgiveness. In the first and second stanzas of the poem Takashi is speaking about the day of the bombing. ‘No one knew its power’ the ‘it’ is referring to the bomb. He refers to the day as ‘this judgment day’ suggesting that he was expecting an event like this to happen but also questioning it ‘why has your life been sacrificed?’ the ‘your’ referring to Hiroshima. Takashi then addresses his experience in the third stanzas with ‘drowning my loneliness’ ‘four abandoned children; wishing to feel our mother’s love’ revealing that he lost his mother to the bombings. He then talks about how he became an orphan of the war in the fourth stanzas and how it changed him, ‘bitterness poisons this innocent child’. Next in the fifth stanzas his reflection connects to the present day ‘I stand alone in this notorious America’ presenting that Takashi has moved to America, displaying courage ‘gathering remnants of my courage’ but still he mentions ‘I am lost in dreams of revenge’. In the sixth stanzas Takashi starts to deliver a message hope and the feeling of empowerment ‘a blade of grass emerges from the ashes’ which continues into the last stanzas ‘emerging with the gift of new life’. Takashi in the last stanzas then concludes in a state of forgiveness ‘healing only comes through learning to forgive’.
‘The Blade of Grass in a Dreamless Field’ written by Takashi Tanemori is written as a first person narrative whereas the poem ‘When We Say