{"id":54797,"date":"2023-11-01T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/?p=54797"},"modified":"2023-10-27T07:26:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T14:26:23","slug":"rituals-of-the-damned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/","title":{"rendered":"Rituals of the Damned"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photo by Jakub Novacek<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know I should call but I don\u2019t want to
\ntalk about Dad or how I lost another
\nearring or how I feel like a bird the sky
\ndropped. Instead, I wander through the empty
\napartment until evening grays the walls.
\nI chop lemongrass by the open window
\nand imagine you can smell it. Weekends I lie
\non the old couch and drink wine from a carton.
\nRemember when we used to go to the Popeyes
\nin Arlington after the cemetery and split a family
\ncombo? You would rest a wing beside Dad\u2019s urn
\nand say I hope you\u2019re hungry, m\u00ecnh \u01a1i. I don\u2019t even know
\nwhat your favorite food is, or what I\u2019m more afraid of:
\nthat I will outlive you, or that you will outlive me.
\nYou ask me about heaven like you\u2019re asking for directions.
\nIs it up in the sky? Is that where your father is?
\nWhat makes you think I know anything
\nabout heaven? You ask if I miss you. I tell you
\nI do, which isn\u2019t true. The truth is, I never
\nslept a deeper sleep than next to you
\nunder a Virginia sky fanged with stars.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Theo LeGro<\/strong> is a Vietnamese-American poet who has received a Pushcart Prize nomination and fellowships from Kundiman. Their work appears or will appear in diode<\/em>, Frontier<\/em>, Raleigh Review<\/em>, SARKA<\/em>, and other journals. They live in Brooklyn with a cat named Vinny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember when we used to go to the Popeyes in Arlington after the cemetery and split a family combo?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":54798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[2164],"yoast_head":"\nRituals of the Damned - DVAN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rituals of the Damned - DVAN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Remember when we used to go to the Popeyes in Arlington after the cemetery and split a family combo?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DVAN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DiasporicVietnameseArtistsNetwork\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"guest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dia_CRITICS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dia_CRITICS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"guest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"guest\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8fe953e505afc6616ddd049343855be1\"},\"headline\":\"Rituals of the Damned\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\"},\"wordCount\":257,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Theo LeGro\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Poetry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\",\"name\":\"Rituals of the Damned - DVAN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Photo by Jakub Novacek.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/\",\"name\":\"DVAN\",\"description\":\"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) empowers Vietnamese American literature and art\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network\",\"alternateName\":\"DVAN\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/dvan-logo-multi-color@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/dvan-logo-multi-color@1x.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":93,\"caption\":\"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DiasporicVietnameseArtistsNetwork\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/dia_CRITICS\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/weare_dvan\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8fe953e505afc6616ddd049343855be1\",\"name\":\"guest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e61fe02de51f695aa132a0807376e2de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e61fe02de51f695aa132a0807376e2de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"guest\"},\"description\":\"diaCRITICS will occasionally feature guest writers contributing originals, or will reprint topical articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dvan.org\/author\/guest\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rituals of the Damned - DVAN","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rituals of the Damned - DVAN","og_description":"Remember when we used to go to the Popeyes in Arlington after the cemetery and split a family combo?","og_url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/","og_site_name":"DVAN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DiasporicVietnameseArtistsNetwork\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"guest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dia_CRITICS","twitter_site":"@dia_CRITICS","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"guest","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/"},"author":{"name":"guest","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8fe953e505afc6616ddd049343855be1"},"headline":"Rituals of the Damned","datePublished":"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/"},"wordCount":257,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Theo LeGro"],"articleSection":["Poetry"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/","name":"Rituals of the Damned - DVAN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-01T13:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-27T14:26:23+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2023\/11\/rituals-of-the-damned\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Photo by Jakub Novacek."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/","name":"DVAN","description":"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) empowers Vietnamese American literature and art","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#organization","name":"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network","alternateName":"DVAN","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/dvan-logo-multi-color@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/dvan-logo-multi-color@1x.png","width":200,"height":93,"caption":"Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DiasporicVietnameseArtistsNetwork\/","https:\/\/x.com\/dia_CRITICS","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/weare_dvan\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8fe953e505afc6616ddd049343855be1","name":"guest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e61fe02de51f695aa132a0807376e2de?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e61fe02de51f695aa132a0807376e2de?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"guest"},"description":"diaCRITICS will occasionally feature guest writers contributing originals, or will reprint topical articles.","url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/author\/guest\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-jakub-novacek-924824-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54800,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54797\/revisions\/54800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}