Yusef Komunyakaa "Facing it"

The poem "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa is not only relevant to our generation, but to every generation that has experienced a war.  The poem provoked a new emotion every time I re-read it, but pain seemed to be the strongest of them.  Yusef takes readers to a new depth of pain, one that you can feel with every sense and he skillfully teaches a lesson about camaraderie and reality.  How painful it must be to touch the name of a friend and immediately flash back to terrifying explosions, "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash."  This is especially relevant today because so many of our veterans are coming from war, have serious mental damage that develops into problems like PTSD but have no way of treating it.  Soldiers wake up in hospitals and are faced with the excruciating memories of watching their comrades die in battle and have no place to turn for help, "My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite."  The truth behind the poem penetrates the mind, body, and soul.