Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Facing It” portrays a dim scenario in where an African-American veteran visits a memorial site and reminisces painfully about the memories he experienced whilst in battle. As he stares at the wall, he begins to see his “black face” “[hide] inside the black granite” (1-2), expressing the imagery of his dual feelings in an artistic manner. The anaphora “I’m stone. I’m flesh” (5) emphasizes his attempt to remain stable, but eventually fails to endure his inner feelings as “[he] turn[s] this way” (8-9) and retreats as “the stone lets [him] go” (9), representing the relief the speaker experiences when not looking at the “black mirror” (29). Gradually, as he reenters “the Vietnam Veterans Memorial” (11), the speaker incorporates
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Thereupon, a woman next to him views the memorial as “names shimmer on a woman’s blouse” (19), figuratively explaining the minute amount of thought she gives to the memorial, as it only shimmers until “she walks away” (20). The sudden diction of “a red bird’s wings cutting across [his] stare” (22-23) and “a plane in the sky” (24) displays the regular occurrences outside of the veteran’s inner mind as it detracts from the continuous flow of the poem. His distinct metaphor “I’m a window” (27) utilizes himself as a tool for the white vet to look through, as “his pale eyes look through mine” (26-27). In the final lines of the poem, the speaker visualizes “a woman’s trying to erase names” (30), embodying a futile attempt to return to innocence; however, as he observes closely “she’s brushing a boy’s hair” (31), which in turn represents the innocence he once had as a child, and consequently, cannot return to. As the speaker experiences grief from the “black mirror” (30) in which he views upon, the depressing tone is conveyed by his various use of daunting diction and bleak
Thereupon, a woman next to him views the memorial as “names shimmer on a woman’s blouse” (19), figuratively explaining the minute amount of thought she gives to the memorial, as it only shimmers until “she walks away” (20). The sudden diction of “a red bird’s wings cutting across [his] stare” (22-23) and “a plane in the sky” (24) displays the regular occurrences outside of the veteran’s inner mind as it detracts from the continuous flow of the poem. His distinct metaphor “I’m a window” (27) utilizes himself as a tool for the white vet to look through, as “his pale eyes look through mine” (26-27). In the final lines of the poem, the speaker visualizes “a woman’s trying to erase names” (30), embodying a futile attempt to return to innocence; however, as he observes closely “she’s brushing a boy’s hair” (31), which in turn represents the innocence he once had as a child, and consequently, cannot return to. As the speaker experiences grief from the “black mirror” (30) in which he views upon, the depressing tone is conveyed by his various use of daunting diction and bleak