{"id":15252,"date":"2019-04-01T02:13:52","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T07:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/?p=15252"},"modified":"2019-04-02T11:46:58","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T16:46:58","slug":"to-offer-sweet-fruit-to-the-ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/archives\/15252","title":{"rendered":"To Offer Sweet Fruit to the Ghost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>for Lolo<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ma says not to swat at the housefly<br \/>\nchirring in our headspace<\/p>\n<p>for the past two hours<br \/>\nbecause it just might be you.<\/p>\n<p>Ma shows me the flimsy browned pictures<br \/>\nof you &amp; me in your workshop,<\/p>\n<p>a scored-leather tool belt strapped across<br \/>\nyour chest like a bandolier.<\/p>\n<p>My whole body smaller still<br \/>\nthan a durian, than a jackfruit.<\/p>\n<p>Ma asks if I remember you. I tell her:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I don\u2019t even remember myself.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I have now lived over ten times<br \/>\nthe years that I have known you.<\/p>\n<p>All my life, I have known you<br \/>\nonly through unknowing.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, Ma collects more and more<br \/>\nsuperstitions. On your death anniversaries,<\/p>\n<p>she reminds me &amp; <em>Ate<\/em> &amp; <em>Ading<\/em> to not be<br \/>\nso heavy-footed around your annual shrine.<\/p>\n<p>The tame light of a fat candle splashes<br \/>\non the bowl brimmed with your favorites:<\/p>\n<p>plantains, mangoes, and the plumpest grapes.<br \/>\nHow odd it feels to celebrate your passing.<\/p>\n<p>To offer sweet fruit to the ghost<br \/>\nof a ghost.<\/p>\n<p>Because it is all I am ever able to offer,<br \/>\nI practice a few reminding beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>I walk lightly<br \/>\naround candles.<\/p>\n<p>I leave sugar out<br \/>\nfor flies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/archives\/15227\">John Paul Martinez<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>for Lolo\u00a0 Ma says not to swat at the housefly chirring in our headspace for the past two hours because it just might be you. Ma shows me the flimsy browned pictures of you &amp; me in your workshop, a scored-leather tool belt strapped across your chest like a bandolier. My whole body smaller still [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1704,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[58],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-3Y0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1704"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15252"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15382,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15252\/revisions\/15382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}