This question is about is about "The Ghosts Of War"
Answer and Explanation:
Ryan Smithson and his companion found shrapnel, twisted pieces of paper, garbage, pieces of molten, warped and solidified metal and a can of ammunition.
All this mess is very bad for Smithson, because he starts to think that all this garbage was caused by an unscrupulous and hateful person who killed his fellow soldiers just to cause horror and metal confusion. This thought has such a bad effect on Smithson that she ends up throwing the shrapnel into the trash to express her anger.
This similie explains that Yang became a writer/author because writing was like a relief too him. In the similie writing was the water that cooled down that burning pit in his mind. basically meaning that writing to him helped aid and comfort him.