Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa

In "Facing It" by Komunyakaa, a Vietnam War Veteran stands traumatized next to the memorial which he visits. Throughout the poem, Komunyakaa focuses a lot on the physical setting. He gives many parts of the setting, like mentioning he's "inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial" (10-11), describes "a red bird's wings cutting across my stare" (22-23), and talks about "a plane in the sky" (24). I believe Komunyakaa talks about the setting so much to share the sense of trauma instilled inside the veteran. When someone is traumatized, some of the symptoms include dissociation, where people almost become motionless. The veteran states "I'm stone" (5), merely observing things around him in the setting, instead of being alive. I believe Komunyakaa is trying to show us how seriously trauma affects people.