Blog 7 Dien Cai Dau - AEE

I found that one of the most significant poems in Dien Cai Dau was Tu Do Street. The poem not only uses words but also imagery to illustrate the division between African Americans in the Vietnam War, and undoubtedly in countless other wars. Yusef Komunyakaa talks about the bars alongside the road; one side for the white men and another for the black men. Not only does he illustrate the message of segregation, he also uses the physical image of the split-road as representation. War and violence are the only things that unite the soldiers of different races. It barely even matters which side of the war the soldiers are on, as there are still wars within the war. We have read books and saw movies from each side of the Vietnam War, but there is often little attention paid to the race war within each side. This poem addresses that issue. Yusef uses prostitutes to show that all the soldiers are in the same predicament, regardless of race. Both are battling for their lives just as both are kissing the same prostitute.
Thanks is a poem which addresses the brutality and barbaric qualities of war. It also regards all events of war as a product of a higher power. War is the most animalist thing we do as human-beings. The soldiers in war, especially the Vietnam War, have little control over the events to happen next. Their fate is in the hands of nature, and that respect for nature is detailed in Thanks by Yusef Komunyakaa. He gives thanks to the butterfly on the invisible trip wire and the tree which shields a soldier from the sniper. Yusef suggests that it is the smallest turns of life which determine a soldier’s fate. He also suggests that there is a God-like figure controlling these turns of life. “Some voice telling me which foot to put down first" (44). Just like in nature, there is little reason behind things. He describes war as an animal instinct, not a civilized human custom.
The poem Losses seems to correlate most with the other texts on the Vietnam War we have seen. It recounts the experience of PTSD, as well as all the lost pieces which soldiers leave behind the war. Often times we hear about girls back at home for soldiers of all race and association. One of the losses spoken about in this poem is the loss of that “girl back home” once soldiers have returned from war. More important than loss of women though is the loss of oneself. “After Nam he lost himself.” (61) Yusef begins to talk about losses in war from a PTSD stance. In the poem he uses an analogy of Punji stakes. While once regarded as a violent threat in war, it is now just a metaphor for the heart break often felt once soldiers returned home.
Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa is a book of poems which specifically look from the viewpoint of an African American soldier. This is a different perspective to look at as most often texts look only from the Vietnam or the American side. Overall Yusef is saying that the war in itself is animalistic and wrong. There were excessive losses on both sides, and few soldiers had legitimate cause for fighting. He also makes note of the race war that happened within the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that all the soldiers were on the same side, some were still thought of as lower class and less privileged than others.