Summary Of Facing It By Yusef Komunyakaa

“Facing It”, a poem by Yusef Komunyakaa, is found in Dien Cai Dau, which was published in 1988. Komunyakaa was born and raised in Bogalusa, La. Being that I am from Bogalusa, I had the instant draw to this poem by this poet. The second reason I chose this poem was because of the ample research I found on this poem and the poet. Yusef Komunyakaa’s work falls under Surrealism and Jazz Poetry. The reason I chose the resources I did was because they were the only ones I could find and they brought a new and good perspective. In many of the articles used, there was a consistent indication of Komunyakaa’s use of blues and jazz music that molded his work. There also seemed to be many instances that the author of the article wrote about how his race,

Many of his poems in this book are about his time serving in the Vietnam War “as an information specialist and later an editor for the military newspaper The Southern Cross” (Conley). However, many of these poems are not only about the Vietnam War but also about racial matters. One writer states that “at the beginning of his poetic career, Komunyakaa’s vision was rooted most often in his race…” (Mack). This shows that his race and roots were extremely important to him growing up and remained important when he began his writing career. Komunyakaa was raised in a southern town during the civil rights movement. Bogalusa, LA was very much so into blues and jazz music but was also a “deeply segregated community” (Dawes). “Judging by the autobiographical poems in Magic City, the Komunyakaas are a large, extended family in which love, care, and support are generously shared” (Chow). Because we, Komunyakaa and I, are from the same place, I know that this book must be named after Bogalusa. I know this because Bogalusa’s nickname is The Magic City. With all of these different resources, the conclusion has been made that many pieces by Komunyakaa’s have been based off of his race and where he is