Neon Vernacular By Yusef Komunyakaa Summary

Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa, describes the experiences of African American soldiers in the Vietnam War. These men fought for a country where they were not accepted or treated equally. African American men risked their lives to protect a nation that did not want blacks to exist. The thoughts these men dealt with everyday, the disrespect, the actual war, the inequality, and the hurt left a strong singe of the minds and heart of the men who survived. Komunyaka share his stories through this mindful and artistic poetry. “Facing It” is an emotional poem that describes a soldiers first visit to the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington D.C. The narrator is describing his visit while trying to hold his composure together. The main character, …show more content…
The pain and sorrow in his voice are obvious by the words he uses and expressions that are described. As his surroundings The soldier is dealing with forgiveness of himself, inequality of black soldiers, illusions of death, and no closure from the Vietnam War. It does not make since to him that these thousands of men are dead, but he made it alive. How and Why are questions that are instilled in his brain as he takes the stroll down the Memorial full of dead soldiers names. In a world full of racial inequalities, black men were fighting in a war that did not benefit them as African Americans. These black men were used and sent to fight and die for a country that did not fully accept them. In the poem “Facing It”, Yusef acknowledges his skin complexion in the first sentence. “My black face fades”. As African Americans fought in the war, they dealt with racial wars on and off the battle field. His black face in the black wall fades as he blends in with the darkness of …show more content…
He feels that he is stuck in the spot he stand as he notices others walk away from the wall with no emotion. “Names shimmer on a woman's blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall.” For the soldier, the names on the wall are people he had a connection with and still has a connection with their names written in the stone. He cannot simply walk away from the wall without grief. (lines 19-21). Feeling stuck to the wall, he continues to touch the names on the stone and observe his surroundings, which caused him to have more flashbacks of war and death. “Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s wings cutting across my stare. The sky. A plane in the sky.” The soldier is in deep imagination as he plays the terrifying images in the back of his mind. This moment being described is significant to the trauma that plays a role in his life. (lines 22-24). As the soldiers is deeply traumatized, his flashbacks become surreal to him. He describes seeing a ghost of the vets and connects their physical appearance to his emotional thoughts when viewing the wall. As the soldier once seen his reflection in the stone with body parts missing, so did the veteran that appeared as a ghost have body parts missing. (lines