Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa

I could really see and understand what Yusef was trying to convey in his poem "Facing It."  In the beginning of the poem where it says "I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears. I'm stone. I'm flesh." you can see and understand that he is telling himself he will not cry at the memorial but he ends up doing so anyway because of the emotions the Veterans Memorial brought back in him as he gazed upon all the names on the granite.  Later we see the author touch the name of his buddy Andrew Johnson who must have gotten killed while in the presence of the author because he describes the white flash of the booby trap while touching his name.  At the end of the story was the most touching to me when he describes a women erasing names but then corrects himself as he describes it as a mother caressing or stroking the granite as if she were caressing or brushing her son's hair.  Very powerful and heartfelt.