Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Facing It," speaks of
the disturbed memories of a veteran. In the poem, the
narrator, a black, Vietnam War veteran, is visiting the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. The
speaker talks of how he feels, staring at the memorial
wall, and also of how his memories still stay with him.
He struggles at the memorial to keep his promise not to
cry, but, now facing the wall, he is having trouble not
to shed tears. This shows the tremendous impact that war
has on people and what many have to face from their past
memories.
As the man looks at the p…
