Contemporary Poets

Contemporary poets are people that are still alive and writing about their past experiences.  In Yusef Komunyakaa's "Facing It," he describes the Vietnam War and reliving his pass.  During this time period not many people could accept the war and booed at soldiers when they came home. When the speaker says "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" (14-18).  They know eventually they will be on the wall once he dies, but he also relives seeing his friend die. This war can be like the modern day War in Iraq, but people are actually supporting the troops.  This poem also describes words in several forms like reflection and the title facing it also has two meanings.  Facing it can mean facing the war or facing the wall.  Reflection can be the reflection on the wall or the reflection of people on the wall. Facing it can show people many different points of the Vietnam War after the war has been over for about 40 years ago.      

Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Facing It.” Poetry Foundation . N.p., 2001. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/‌archive/‌poem.html?id=177382>.