Facing It

Yusef Komunyakaa

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1988

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Summary

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Trauma of War

Perhaps the most obvious element of this work is the speaker’s sense of loss, and how they internally grapple with confronting the symbolic presence of the wall in front of them. In many ways, a wall can be interpreted as a form of blockage, but it can also be seen as a form of protection; in the case of this poem, it seems to act as both—representing the complex layers of how trauma can impact a person’s psychological stability. According to Medical News Today, a victim of trauma “may feel overwhelmed, helpless, shocked, or have difficulty processing their experiences.” This sense of traumatic confusion and alter-reality is palpable in the poem’s imagery, which fluctuates between real and imagined, stone and flesh, past and present, mimicking the volatile and uncertain anxiety trauma can induce in a person’s mind and sense of self. It’s as if the past is holding onto the speaker and refuses to let go: “I turn this way—the stone lets me go./ I turn that way—I'm inside/ the Vietnam Veterans Memorial/ again” (lines 8-12).

Another symptom of trauma is the inability to escape the stress of an event and allowing it to consume one’s sense of happiness or self-worth. Though it’s unclear if the speaker is emotionally depressed, it’s evident they are consumed by the magnitude of the wall and what it represents. Upon confronting it for the first time in the opening lines, the speaker says “My black face fades,/ hiding inside the black granite” (lines 1-2). Indeed, they are disappearing when confronted by the weight of memory; the use of the word “hiding” indicates a sense of retreat but also comfort “inside the black granite.” By the poem’s end, the speaker is no longer able to distinguish what’s actually in front of them and what’s around them, as they begin to imagine the names “shimmer[ing] on a woman's blouse/ but when she walks away/ the names stay on the wall” (lines 19-21). Again, these characteristics are largely indicative of the effects of trauma on a person’s psychology, which this poem explores in a subtle way.

The Complexity of Masculine Vulnerability

Perhaps even more subtle than the effects of trauma is the theme of masculine vulnerability presented in this work (side note: this is presuming the speaker of the poem is male). The notion is introduced early in the poem, in lines 3-4 when the speaker immediately resists his emotional self, saying “I said I wouldn't/ dammit: No tears.” That he has convinced himself he won’t cry in the presence of his pain is indicative of a typical male relationship with emotions: He doesn’t want to—or does not feel comfortable to—express them. However, this notion is complicated in the following lines when he says “I'm stone. I'm flesh” (line 5). This duality of first being “stone” (hardened, determined, immovable) then immediately admitting he is “flesh” (human, soft, fallible) creates an interesting dynamic of confession. He is neither too strong nor too weak: He is both. This is a rare fullness given to soldiers in any popular media portrayal since they are often seen as warriors—invincible, heroic, and noble. Not very often are such men (and women) who served in war portrayed as vulnerable to their emotional confusion in such a poignant, soft, and subtle way.

The poem’s sense of violent masculinity is inherent in the images and references to warfare—often a male-dominant arena—such as “I touch the name Andrew Johnson;/ I see the booby trap's white flash” (lines 17-18) and “He's lost his right arm/ inside the stone” (lines 28-29). In both examples, a male figure is being violently and aggressively destroyed or dismembered. Yet these memories of intense warfare are softened by the poet’s introspection and by the feminine and familiar trappings of civilian life: “Names shimmer on a woman's blouse” (line 19); “In the black mirror/ a woman’s trying to erase names:/ No, she's brushing a boy's hair” (lines 29-31). In these cases, the presence of the woman and boy contrast against the harsher visions of violence, further giving context and wholeness to the speaker’s sense of self; this is thematically represented in the fleeting reflections about which he chooses to write. Therefore, the speaker’s sense of perception, attention to detail, and care, challenge the stereotypes of masculinity and war.