Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Janice Mirikitani’s "Lullabye" is a haunting meditation on the intergenerational trauma of Japanese American internment during World War II. Through the lens of the speaker’s relationship with her mother, the poem explores themes of silence, loss, identity, and the ways in which historical injustices shape personal and familial narratives. The poem’s restrained tone and powerful imagery underscore the emotional weight of a history that resists articulation, offering a profound commentary on the intersection of personal and collective memory.

The opening lines immediately establish the mother’s silence as a central motif: “My mother merely shakes her head / when we talk about the war, the camps, the bombs.” This refusal to speak about the past suggests both an act of self-preservation and a deep, unresolved pain. Her silence becomes an inherited burden for the speaker, who is left to piece together fragments of history and emotion. The mother’s inability—or unwillingness—to confront the trauma of the internment camps mirrors the broader societal tendency to overlook or erase this chapter of American history.

The imagery of the mother “wrapp[ing] her shell in kimono sleeves” and stamping herself “third class delivery to Tule Lake” vividly conveys her dehumanization and displacement. The act of reducing herself to a "shell" emphasizes the emotional and psychological toll of internment, as she leaves behind not only her possessions but also her sense of self. The reference to Tule Lake, one of the most notorious internment camps, situates her experience within a specific historical and cultural context, anchoring the poem’s personal narrative in collective memory.

The poem critiques the rhetoric of citizenship and patriotism that justified the internment, using phrases like “It is privilege to pack only what you can carry” and “It is peace of mind constituted by inalienable right.” These lines are laced with irony, exposing the hypocrisy and cruelty of a system that stripped Japanese Americans of their rights while demanding their loyalty. The mother’s act of marking “X” in the box labeled “other,” signifying her willingness to renounce U.S. citizenship under duress, becomes a tragic symbol of the coerced loyalty and humiliation imposed on internees. The suggestion that this allegiance was offered to “those who would have turned on the gas / mercifully” evokes the specter of genocide, drawing an implicit connection between the internment and the broader context of wartime atrocities.

The refrain shikata ga nai (“it can’t be helped”) encapsulates the resignation and stoicism that the mother adopts as a survival mechanism. This phrase, often associated with Japanese cultural attitudes toward unavoidable suffering, becomes both a source of strength and a mark of deep despair. The mother’s journey on the “train destined for omission” is emblematic of the erasure and dehumanization endured by internees, while the harrowing image of her cousin dying beside her underscores the physical and emotional toll of this experience. The question “Who says you only die once?” poignantly reflects the layered nature of trauma, where the loss of identity, dignity, and connection can feel like repeated deaths.

The speaker’s voice emerges in the closing lines, revealing her own yearning for understanding and reconciliation. Her “song” is one of waiting—“for the birth of my mother.” This powerful metaphor suggests that the mother’s true self, buried under layers of trauma and silence, has yet to emerge. The speaker’s use of Japanese phrases, interwoven with English, reflects the duality of her identity and the intergenerational transmission of memory and loss. The act of waiting becomes a form of resistance, an acknowledgment of the unresolved wounds that continue to shape her family’s narrative.

Mirikitani’s language is spare yet deeply evocative, creating a sense of intimacy and urgency. The interplay between the mother’s silence and the speaker’s search for meaning captures the complexities of intergenerational trauma, where the unspoken past exerts a profound influence on the present. The poem’s structure, shifting between the mother’s experiences and the speaker’s reflections, mirrors the fragmented and cyclical nature of memory, where the past is never fully resolved.

"Lullabye" is a deeply moving exploration of the impact of historical injustice on personal and familial identities. Through its portrayal of the mother’s silence and the speaker’s yearning, the poem sheds light on the enduring scars of the Japanese American internment while honoring the resilience of those who lived through it. Mirikitani’s work invites readers to confront the silences in their own histories, challenging them to bear witness to the stories that shape our collective understanding of justice, identity, and humanity.

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