POeT SHOTS is a monthly series published on the third Tuesday of the month. It features work by established writers followed by commentary and insight by Ed Krizek.
Facing It
by Yusek Komunyakaa
My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
slanted against morning. I turn
this way—the stone lets me go.
I turn that way—I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair..
In “Facing It’ Yusef Komunyakaa delivers a moving and vivid account of the experience of viewing the Vietnam War Memorial. The poet wants to be impervious to the pain of remembering his time in Vietnam, /I said I wouldn’t/dammit no tears, /I’m stone…. But he follows that sentiment with the words /…I’m flesh. / Which shows he cannot deny his feelings. We travel with Komunyakaa back to Vietnam as he views the memorial and depends on “the light to make a difference.” The poet travels down the names and remembers someone he knew who died in the war. He states /I’m a window./. The poet’s emotions are reflected and transparent. In a sort of wish he sees /a woman’s trying to erase names:/ Wouldn’t it be tempting to remove the names so that these people would not die?
With Memorial Day just past it behooves us to read this poem and consider the consequences of war and the pain of those who were/are in harms way. The simple act of “brushing a boy’s hair” calls the reader back to the peace taken for granted in the US. Those who served and lived as well as those who died are remembered in this poem. Komunyakaa is “Facing It”. He faces his participation and current freedom.
Hear Yusef Komunyakaa read “Facing It” here.
Ed Krizek holds a BA and MS from University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA and MPH from Columbia University. For over twenty years Ed has been studying and writing poetry. He is the author of six books of poetry: Threshold, Longwood Poems, What Lies Ahead, Swimming With Words, The Pure Land, and This Will Pass. All are available on Amazon. Ed writes for the reader who is not necessarily an initiate into the poetry community. He likes to connect with his readers on a personal level.