Dien Cai Dau

Dien Cai Dau is the best collection of war poetry I have ever read. I don't know if the relative immediacy of the Vietnam War, and the unquestionable importance that war had for the generation just ahead of me, predisposes me to be drawn to this collection, or not. I do know the collection as a collection is truly beautiful and haunting. Overall, I really like and respect Komunyakaa's body of work, and believe this collection to be his absolute finest. And Komunyakaa's "Facing It" (a poem in this collection) has few rivals among the staggering number of free verse English poems ever written.

Yusef Komunyakaa‘s Dien Cai Dau is another collection of Vietnam War poetry. The poet, who received the Bronze Star and edited The Southern Cross, dedicates this book to his brother Glenn, “who saw The Nam before” Komunyakaa did. His poems put the reader in the soldiers’ shoes, allowing them to camouflage themselves and skulk around the jungles of Vietnam from the very first lines of “Camouflaging the Chimera.” Beyond skulking in the jungle, hunting the Viet Cong, Komunyakaa discusses the weight of war as soldiers trudge through the landscape with their equipment and what they’ve done and seen. Weaving through the tunnels looking for the enemy or searching the thick forest, soldiers are constantly reminded of their show more emotional and physical burdens, though they find joy in some of the smallest moments.

One of the beautiful aspects of Komunyakaa’s poetry is his vivid sense of how even the most beautiful elements of nature have a darker side. In “Somewhere Near Phu Bai,” Komunyakaa writes “The moon cuts through/the night trees like a circular saw/white hot. . . .” and in “Starlight Scope Myopia,” he suggests, “Viet Cong/move under our eyelids,/lords over loneliness/winding like coral vine through/sandalwood & lotus/.”

Read the review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2010/07/dien-cai-dau-by-yusef-komunyakaa.html show less

Fantastic war poetry, mostly dealing with the author's experience in Vietnam.