One of the poems in Yusef Komunyakaa's book Dien Cai Dau is titled "Between Days" and appears as the second to last poem in the book. This poem shows how the Vietnam War effects much more than the soldiers in that it has a lasting effect on family members as well. The poem talks about a mother having trouble acknowledging that her son has been killed in the war. Even though it has been many years since his death, the mother refuses to cash his death check, saying "now he's going to have to give them this money back when he gets home." Through the mother's refusal to acknowledge the son's death, Komunyakaa shows that people who were not directly involved in the war can still be affected by it and like many soldiers, wish for their lives to return to the way things were before the war began. This poem has many references to things related to the war, such as "The sunset flashes across them like a blast" and "The evening's first fireflies dance in the air like distant tracers", showing the impact of war is powerful and forever noticeable in the eyes of those effected.
The next poem I chose to look at more in depth was "Toys in a Field". This poem depicts Vietnamese children playing with the forgotten weapons and machinery left behind by American soldiers. In this poem, Komunyakaa seems to use the Vietnamese children as a way to symbolize American troops in various ways. By playing with the leftover and broken weapons, the children can be seen as symbolizing the American troops in that they themselves are little more than children who do not fully understand the harsh realities that come with war. The children can also symbolize the soldiers in combat and the way the soldiers felt about the war in general. In the lines "suspended in doorways of multimillion-dollar helicopters" and "they imitate vultures landing in fields" we can see the American soldiers as they prepare to jump from helicopters and land on the ground in the midst of a battle. We can see that how the soldiers felt the war was viewed at home in the lines "their play is silent...the volume turned down on the six o'clock news..." These symbolize that the soldiers feel unsupported in their efforts in the war since their actions seem to have no effect at home and are an unimportant part of the daily newscast.
"A Break from the Bush" was another poem I found interesting. This poem again shows how though the soldiers are engaged in war, they are truly still children at heart and wish they could return home. They take out their frustrations through the volleyball game being played in the poem and joke around as if it was just a normal day with friends. Though they can still hear the war going on around them they pretend its not, showed by the lines "& miles away machine guns can be heard. Pretending we're somewhere else, we play harder." This poem exemplifies how soldiers need time away from the way to try and restore some sort of normality to their lives and they do so be engaging in youthful activies and behaviors.
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One of the poems in Yusef Komunyakaa's book Dien Cai Dau is titled "Between Days" and appears as the second to last poem in the book. This poem shows how the Vietnam War effects much more than the soldiers in that it has a lasting effect on family members as well. The poem talks about a mother having trouble acknowledging that her son has been killed in the war. Even though it has been many years since his death, the mother refuses to cash his death check, saying "now he's going to have to give them this money back when he gets home." Through the mother's refusal to acknowledge the son's death, Komunyakaa shows that people who were not directly involved in the war can still be affected by it and like many soldiers, wish for their lives to return to the way things were before the war began. This poem has many references to things related to the war, such as "The sunset flashes across them like a blast" and "The evening's first fireflies dance in the air like distant tracers", symbolizing different elements of the war and showing the impact of war is powerful and forever noticeable in the eyes of those effected. The line "his row of tin soldiers line the window sill. The sun flashes across them like a blast" also symbolizes how easily the soldiers in Vietnam can be killed through the many bombings that occurred.
ReplyDeleteThe next poem I chose to look at more in depth was "Toys in a Field". This poem depicts Vietnamese children playing with the forgotten weapons and machinery left behind by American soldiers. In this poem, Komunyakaa seems to use the Vietnamese children as a way to symbolize American troops in various ways. By playing with the leftover and broken weapons, the children can be seen as symbolizing the American troops in that they themselves are little more than children who do not fully understand the harsh realities that come with war. The children can also symbolize the soldiers in combat and the way the soldiers felt about the war in general. In the lines "suspended in doorways of multimillion-dollar helicopters" and "they imitate vultures landing in fields" we can see the American soldiers as they prepare to jump from helicopters and land on the ground in the midst of a battle. We can see that how the soldiers felt the war was viewed at home in the lines "their play is silent...the volume turned down on the six o'clock news..." These symbolize that the soldiers feel unsupported in their efforts in the war since their actions seem to have no effect at home and are an unimportant part of the daily newscast.
"Facing It" is the last poem found in the book and deals with how the soldiers are affected by the war years later. To the veteran in the poem, it is almost as if the past and the present have joined while he stands their looking at the memorial. This is seen through the memories the wall stirs up, "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash." and in how a red bird's wings remind him of "A plane in the sky." It is also seen through how he feels as if he is becoming part of the wall as his image is reflected in it "My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite." The poem represents the veterans feelings because he is "half-expecting to find my own [name] in letters like smoke." This details how he would not be surprised if he's dead because he feels dead inside thanks to the war.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue that this poem raises is that Vietnam was a race war. This is represented through small phrases and comparisons made in this poem, as well as all of the poems in the book. We see the comparison of black versus white in the line "the profile of night slanted against morning." It is also apparent in the way the speaker fades into the wall, his face "hiding inside the black granite." and through the lines "the booby trap's white flash," "my own letters like smoke," "a white vet's image floats closer to me" and "in the black mirror.." All of these lines are plays of images, pitting black and white against one another.
Through his poems, Komunyakaa is saying that the Vietnam War was a race war and was a war full of young men who were not yet ready for the horrible things that they would encounter. His poems also depict what the war was like for an African American soldier and shows all of the losses and hardships that were encountered by those involved.