My black face fades,
Hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't,
Dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
Like a bird of prey, the profile of night
Slanted against morning. I turn
The names of the fallen soldiers from the Vietnam War are inscribed on a black granite wall. 
 Komunyakaa feels like he’s a part of the wall with the fallen soldiers – like he died with them. That’s why he says he’s a stone. 
 But at the same time he didn’t actually die so he reminds himself: 
 I’m flesh 
 Notice he must say he is flesh, as if reassuring himself that he lived; this also simultaneously enhances the sense of the dead feeling he has inside.
Facing It