“ Facing It”

1. “Facing It” By YusefKomunyakaa Group: Lizbet Palacios ,Gladys Arciniega ,Elvis Garcia, Anthony Mancillas , Ruby Rodriquez

2. 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. 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.

3. Bio • Born April 29, 1947 – / • American poet • Given birth name James William brown, he later changed his name to his grandfathers • He grew up in the small town of Bogalusa, Louisiana • He served in the US army (1969-1971), he served during the Vietnam War (1969-1971) • During his time in the army he worked as the specialist for the military paper • Yusef Komunyakaa interviewed soldiers and wrote articles on Vietnams History to publish in the military paper. • Earned a Bronze Star in his time serving the army • Began to write poems in 1973 at the University of Colorado • He earned his M.A. in writing at the University of Colorado(1978), and he earned his M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine(1980) • Noble awards: Kinsley Tufts Poetry Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

4. “My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh.” • Hides his anger as well as struggles to resolve any emotional feelings from the war • “Stone” solid = restrained • “Flesh” can be seen as humans vulnerability , fragile • Black face hiding behind granite or a tombstone signifying death • Acknowledging being both “stone” and “flesh” reveals the veterans true conscienceless towards his own morality

5. “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. “ • Poet sees his own mortality. • After seeing his own reflection sees that he is trapped in which he must break free from the bad part he sees. • Komunyakaais a prisoner his only escape is to turn away from wall. • The wall with the veterans names is the constant reminder of what he wants to get away from remembering experiences from the war • No matter where he turns he just can’t escape

6. “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.” • The 58,022 names represent the number of soldiers that died in the Vietnam War. • Andrew Jackson was the 17th president. He denied to free slaves and equal protection.

8. “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.” • Names is personified as the veterans who passed away. • The names on the memorial wall reflect on the woman’s blouse • The granite from the wall as well as the sky reflect onto the woman’s blouse , reflecting the names from one place to another • The Poet sees the bird’s wings to being a plane, which means the threat of a plane attack during the Vietnam War.

9. “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.” • The vet looks right through him like a “window” • The white vet signifies another veteran that happens to be white. • The vet can see right through him because he has seen what Yusef has seen and what he’s going through. • Komunyakaa then believes that the woman is trying to remake the past, but then sees her true actions. • Komunyakaa does not know whether or not the women is trying to erase the names or bring back the dead veterans

10. Theme • The theme of the poem is coping, coping with the events he had faced during the war. • “Facing It” goes through the emotional effects after the war honoring the their sacrifices • .

11. Meter Type of Poem Myblackface fades, hidinginsidetheblack gran ite. IsaidIwouldn’t, dammit: Notears. I’mstone. I’mflesh. • The meter of the poem is a Iambic meter. • Has a different number of feet • Facing It is a Lyric Poem • A lyric poem is a subjective, reflective poetry with regular rhyme and meter which which reveals the poet’s thoughts and feelings to create a single, unique impression.

12. Literary Devices • The poet uses Imagery to descriptively show the negativity aspects of the war. • The poem has no rhyme scheme 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. • 15 enjambments I turn that way--I’m inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial again, depending on the light to make a difference. • 8 caesuras 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

13. Diction Tone • Negative Diction • Black, fades, tears, prey, smoke, cutting, pale, lost, etc. • The poem has more of negative emotional tone. • The poet chooses negative vocabulary to demonstrate the negative aspect of the war.