is smoked and Hendrix blares out from the radio. The racial undertones of "TuDo Street", the propaganda of "Hanoi "Hannah" falls on deaf ears. It's time to have fun. The joy apparent in this selection is only momentary as the soldiers not only must return to war, Komunyakaa NA ..wishes his work to be tested with the full rigor applied to all serious poetry."15 The images presented herein are not offered strictly for their levity, they are extended to complete the picture. To provide Komunyakaa with additional brushstrokes.A portion of the picture that has not yet been revealed is the mental state of the Vietnam POWs. A technique used by Komunyakaa to express the separateness of each thought is the manner in which each stanza us written. Each thought is separate and complete, yet it follows the previous one:The real interrogator is a voice within.I would have told the about my daughterin Phoenix, how young she was,about my first woman, anythingThe struggle is with oneself. What is one willing to say to stop whatever pain is being caused? It is up to us to determine how we are perceived,"& parts of us we dared put into the picturecome together;the prisoner goes away" It is the individual that must perserveer."The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power but also of human power and morale."16Individual strength is the centerpiece that "Eyeball Television"' revolves around. As a POW is isolated in a hole in the ground, he searches for familiar images to pass the days:He sits crouched in a holecovered with slats of bamboo,recalling hundreds of facesfrom I Love Lucy, Dragnet,I Spy, & The Ed Sullivan Show.The sounds that reach him are faint and distant. The only clues as to day or night are the small rays of sun that penetrate the hole. The attachment to television provides distraction for the ongoing events,"When he can"t stop laughingat Roadrunner on channel 6the sharp pain goes away." He must detac...
