Question

Which lines from the poem “Facing It” best reflect the narrator’s struggle between his desire to maintain control and the strong emotions that he feels?
I’m stone. I’m flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
I turn that way—I’m inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap’s white flash.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s
wings cutting across my stare.

Answer 1

The clearest lines are:

- "I’m stone. I’m flesh." — The stark contrast captures the central tension: "stone" (controlled, impassive) versus "flesh" (vulnerable, alive, emotional).
- "My clouded reflection eyes me / I turn that way—I'm inside / the Vietnam Veterans Memorial" — the mirror image and the speaker’s involuntary immersion show loss of control as memory and feeling pull him in.
- "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; / I see the booby trap’s white flash." — the simple act of touching a name triggers a violent, involuntary flashback, revealing how emotion and trauma break through his attempt at steadiness.
- "Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s / wings cutting across my stare." — vivid sensory images intrude on his gaze, interrupting composure with sudden emotional, visual assault.

Together these lines show the poem’s movement between deliberate restraint and the sudden, powerful surge of memory and feeling.