By the 1970s Komunyakaa became very famous. His first two volumes,
Dedications and Other Darkhorses (1977) and
Lost in the Bonewheel Factory (1979) were self-published. Komunyakaa first gained wide recognition for the collection
Copacetic in 1984, which fused jazz rhythms and syncopation with super-hip colloquialism and the unique, arresting poetic imagery which has since become his trademark. It also outlined an abiding desire in his work to articulate cultural truths that remain unspoken in daily discourse, in the hope that they will bring a sort of redemption:"How can love heal/ the mouth shut this way.../ Say something that resuscitates/ us, behind the masks."
He wrote
I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head, published in 1986, which won the San Francisco Poetry Prize. More attention came with the publication of
Dien Cai Dau (Vietnamese for "This Crazy Head"), published in 1988, which focused on his experiences in Vietnam and won the Dark Room Poetry Prize. Included was the poem "Facing It", expressing his experience visiting the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C. Section from "Facing It":
- He's lost his right arm
- inside the stone. In the black mirror
- a woman's trying to erase names
- No, she's brushing a boy's hair."
- :- poem "Facing It" Yusef Komunyakaa: Facing It @ The Internet Poetry Archive
Komunyakaa has published more collections of poetry, including
Taboo: The Wishbone Trilogy, Part I (2004), 'Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems, 1975-1999
(2001), Talking Dirty to the Gods
(2000), Thieves of Paradise (1998),
Neon Vernacular (1994), and
Magic City (1992).
After receiving his M.F.A., Komunyakaa began teaching poetry in the New Orleans public school system and creative writing at the University of New Orleans.
In 2004, Komunyakaa began a collaboration with dramaturge and theater producer Chad Gracia on a dramatic adaptation of
The Epic of Gilgamesh. The play was published in October 2006 by Wesleyan University Press. In spring 2008, New York's 92nd Street Y staged a one-night performance by director Robert Scanlon.