Wild Grass on the Riverbank

Wild Grass on the Riverbank is a long-form poetic narrative by Hiromi Ito that follows a family's experience relocating to the United States and navigating cultural and linguistic displacement.

The poem explores themes of identity, belonging, and the strains of cross-cultural life through intimate, evocative language.

Jeffrey Angles translated the work into English in 2016, connecting it to Asian American literary conversations and offering readers access to Ito's bicultural perspective.

The piece uses shifting voices and lyrical experimentation to portray the emotional complexities of migration.

Its reception highlighted an audience interested in literature originally written in Japanese that engages transnational themes.