The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Joy Foster
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Twenty-first century, Alienation, Poverty or poor people, Los Angeles, Native Americans or American Indians, Birds, Isolation, Urban life
“The Path to the Milky Way Leads Through Los Angeles,” from A Map to the Next World: Poems and Tales, fuses images from Native American spirituality with those of modern life in urban Los Angeles. Borders between myth and contemporary life blur as the poet comments on the spiritual, cultural, and social poverty that afflicts modern city dwellers, especially Native Americans who are separated from their roots as they seek new opportunities in the urban environment.
Harjo opens the poem with “There are strangers above me, below me, and all around me . . . ” It is an...
[The entire page is 523 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
