Perhaps the most obvious element of this work is the speaker’s sense of loss, and how they internally grapple with confronting the symbolic presence of the wall in front of them. In many ways, a wall can be interpreted as a form of blockage, but it can also be seen as a form of protection; in the case of this poem, it seems to act as both—representing the complex layers of how trauma can impact a person’s psychological stability. According to Medical News Today, a victim of trauma “may feel overwhelmed, helpless, shocked, or have difficulty processing their experiences.” This sense of traumatic confusion and alter-reality is palpable in the poem’s imagery, which fluctuates between real and imagined, stone and flesh, past and present, mimicking the volatile and uncertain anxiety trauma can induce in a person’s mind and sense of self. It’s as if the past is holding onto the speaker and refuses to let go: “I turn this way—the stone lets me go./ I turn that way—I'm inside/ the Vietnam Veterans Memorial/ again” (lines 8-12).

Another symptom of trauma is the inability to escape the stress of an event and allowing it to consume one’s sense of happiness or self-worth.