Yusef Komunyakaa and The Vietnam War

Yusef Komunyakaa, the poet of war, vividly describes his vacillating emotions about the Vietnam War and his relation to it as an African-American veteran in the poem, “Facing It.” Komunyakaa, the protagonist of his narrative, reflective poem, contemplates his past experiences as he promenades around the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, struggling to conceal his ardent emotions and remain hard and cold as “stone.” He writes one stanza in a dark mood, and by using metaphors and visual imagery, he paints a picture with his words for all to see.

Komunyakaa utilizes various metaphors to get his point across and show the irrevocable traumatization and effects that war can cause. In the very first line, he uses the word “black” to describe his face, comparing it to the “black granite” of the memorial wall that he is trying to “[hide]” inside. He does this to make it known immediately that he is African-American, and his racial identity adds to his struggles because many people did not respect him or view him as an even slightly heroic figure for fighting in the cruel Vietnam War. He fought side-by-side with people who would look the other way and for a country that would not even grant his kind the same rights and freedom that the next white man had forever. What also hides beneath the surface of the dark granite is the witness to all the ruthlessness and casualties of war, and that is something that Komunyakaa shares with the wall. He “fades” into the wall, searching beyond the exterior into the inside of the stone, concealing himself and becoming one with the stone. As a veteran he knows these men-their names etched in the wall-on a personal level in ways that their family or friends did not know them, even though he was not actually fami...

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...ave sympathy for all those lost and affected, but they will never be able to have empathy. They are just there to view the names, and although they may be mournful, they will never truly understand it.

Yusef Komunyakaa reflects on his experiences from the Vietnam War, describing his mixed emotions using vivid imagery and dark metaphors. He struggles throughout the poem, as the caesuras indicate, as he is trying to bottle up his emotions like he would if he was fighting in the war. Komunyakaa displays the harsh reality of the aftermath of being a soldier with everlasting scars-both mental and physical-that can haunt and manifest someone. He also describes how all veterans, even if they do not know each other personally, can connect with one another on a higher level of understanding than others who do not share similar experiences or struggles would ever be able to.