Inheriting the War

  MỘNG-LAN: “Field” and “A New Việt Nam” by Mộng-Lan. Reprinted from Song of the Cicadas. Copyright © 2001 by the University of Massachusetts Press.

  JUAN J. MORALES: “The Clover Leaf” and “Phobias” originally published in Friday and the Year That Followed by Juan Morales ©2006 Fairweather Books. Reprinted with permission of the author.

  JOHN MURILLO: “Trouble Man,” © 2010 by John Murillo, originally published in Up Jump the Boogie, by John Murillo, Cypher Books 2010. Printed with permission of the author.

  PABLO NERUDA: Excerpt from “In Vietnam” translated by Ilan Stavans from The Poetry of Pablo Neruda by Pablo Neruda. Copyright © 2003 by Pablo Neruda and Fundacíon Pablo Neruda. Introduction and notes copyright © 2003 Ilan Stavans. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

  NGÔ TỰ LẬP AND MARTHA COLLINS: “Women from the 1960s (I)” and “A Bullet Fired into the Night” from Black Stars by Ngo Tu Lap, translated by Martha Collins (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2007). Copyright © 2007 by Martha Collins. Reprinted with permission from author and Milkweed Editions. www.milkweed.org

  BICH MINH NGUYEN: “The Good Immigrant Student” © 2007 by Bich Minh Nguyen. Printed with permission of the author.

  HOA NGUYEN: “Agent Orange Poem” and “Independence Day 2010” © 2012 by Hoa Nguyen, originally published in As Long as Trees Last by Hoa Nguyen, Wave Books 2012. Printed with permission of the author.

  HIEU MINH NGUYEN: “Buffet Etiquette” © 2013 Hieu Minh Nguyen, originally published in decomP magazine. “Cockfight,” © 2016 Hieu Minh Nguyen, originally published in the Paris American. “Tater Tot Hot-Dish” © 2014 Hieu Minh Nguyen, originally published in Radius magazine, 2/27/2014. Printed with permission of the author.

  PHONG NGUYEN: “The Wheel of History” © 2011 by Phong Nguyen, originally published in Kenyon Review, Fall 2011. Printed with permission of the author.

  NGUYEN PHAN QUE MAI AND BRUCE WEIGL: “The Boat Girl,” “My Mother,” and “Quẫng Trị” from The Secret of Hoa Sen, translated by Bruce Weigl. Copyright © 2014 by Nguyen Phan Que Mai. Translation copyright © 2014 by Nguyen Phan Que Mai and Bruce Weigl. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of BOA Editions Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.

  NGUYỄN QUANG THIỀU: “The Examples” and “My Father’s Laughter” translated by Martha Collins and Nguyễn Quang Thiều with Nguyen Ba Chung © 1997 by Martha Collins and Nguyễn Quang Thiều. Reprinted from The Women Carry River Water: Poems. Copyright © 1997 by Martha Collins and Nguyen Quang Thieu and published by the University of Massachusetts Press. “July” and “August” translated by Kevin Bowen and Nguyễn Quang Thiều © 2016 by Kevin Bowen and Nguyễn Quang Thiều. “July” first appeared as “July Reminiscence” in Poetry Ireland, edited by John F. Deane, Number 106, Winter 2012. Printed with permissions of the author and translator.

  VAAN NGUYEN AND ADRIANA X. JACOBS: “Mekong River” and “Packing Poem”: published in The Truffle Eye © 2013 by Vaan Nguyen and Adriana X. Jacobs. “Mekong River” first appeared in Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts 27, 2 (Summer/Fall 2015): 56–57. “Packing Poem” first appeared in Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 33, 4 (Summer 2015): 103–104. Reprinted with permission of the author and translator.

  VIET THANH NGUYEN: “April 30” © 2016 by Viet Thanh Nguyen, originally published on the author’s website on 4/30/2016. Reprinted with permission of the author.

  DEBORAH PAREDEZ: “Lavinia Writing in the Sand” and “A History of Bamboo” © 2016 Deborah Paredez. Earlier version of “Lavinia Writing in the Sand” published in Adanna Literary Journal: Special Issue on Women and War (2013). “A history of Bamboo” was previously published in Pilgrimage Magazine 37.1 (May 2012): 23, 54. Printed with permission of the author.

  SUZAN-LORI PARKS: From 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks. Copyright © 2006 by Suzan-Lori Parks. Published by Theatre Communications Group. Used by permission of Theatre Communications Group.

  ANDREW X. PHAM: Excerpt(s) from The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars by Andrew X. Pham, 2008 by Andrew Pham. Used by permission of Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

  AIMEE PHAN: “Motherland” © 2004 by Aimee Phan, originally published in We Should Never Meet by Aimee Phan, St. Martin’s Press 2004. Printed with permission of the author and St. Martin’s Press.

  BAO PHI: “War Before Memory: A Vietnamese American Protest Organizer’s History Against Miss Saigon” © 2013 Bao Phi. Originally published in Hyphen Magazine, 9/24/2013. Printed with permission of the author.

  BEN QUICK: “The Boneyard” © 2016 Ben Quick. Printed with permission of the author.

  ASHLEY ROMANO: “Jersey City” © 2016 by Ashley Romano. Printed with permission of the author.

  JOSEPHINE ROWE: “Vanellinae” © 2010 by Josephine Rowe, originally published in The Griffith Review, edition 32. “What I Know of Doorways,” © 2010 by Josephine Rowe, originally published in blackmail press, issue 20. “Love” © 2009 by Josephine Rowe, originally published in How a Moth Becomes a Boat by Josephine Rowe, Hunter Publishers 2009. Printed with permission of the author.

  LEVI RUBECK: “Yellow Flare” and “Mall Flare” © 2016 Levi Rubeck. Printed with permission of the author.

  KAREN RUSSELL: “Underground in Vietnam.” From The New York Times, 5/27/2011 © 2011 The New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express written permission is prohibited.

  BRIAN SCHWARTZ: “Invasion” © 2016 Brian Schwartz. Printed with permission of the author.

  MONICA SOK: “Kampuchen Skin,” “Left-Behind Looks for the Apsaras,” and “When the War Was Over” © 2016 Monica Sok. Printed with permission of the author.

  JAMES TATE: “The Lost Pilot,” from Selected Poems, by James Tate. Courtesy of the estate of James Tate and Wesleyan University Press.

  KIM THÚY AND SHEILA FISCHMAN: Excerpted from Ru by Kim Thúy and translated by Sheila Fischman © 2012 Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. Printed with permission of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2009 Éditions Libre Expression. English translation copyright © 2012 Sheila Fischman. Reprinted by permission of Random House Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.

  PAUL TRAN: “Self Immolation” © 2016 Paul Tran, originally published in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 6, April 2016; “Heirloom” © 2016 Paul Tran, originally published in Cleaver Magazine, Issue 13, March 2016. Printed with permission of the author.

  JULIE THI UNDERHILL: “The Silent Opening” © 2006, 2016 Julie Thi Underhill. Reprinted with permission of the author; “war dreams” was published in Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, edited by Maxine Hong Kingston © 2016 Chiron Publications. Reprinted with permission of the author and Chiron Publications.

  MAI DER VANG: “Light from a Burning Citadel,” “I the Body of Laos and All My UXOs,” and “When the Mountains Rose Beneath Us, We Became the Valley” from Afterland. Copyright © 2017 by Mai Der Vang. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

  CHI VU: “The Uncanny” © 2013 by Chi Vu, first appeared in Joyful Strains: Making Australia Home (eds. Kent MacCarter and Ali Lemer). Printed with permission of the author.

  VUONG QUOC VU: “Twenty Two,” “The Year of the Pig,” and “Flower Bomb” © 2016 Vuong Quoc Vu. Printed with permission of the author.

  OCEAN VUONG: “The Weight of Our Living: On Hope, Fire Escapes, & Visible Desperation” © 2014 Ocean Vuong. Originally published in The Rumpus, August 28, 2014. Printed with permission of the author.

  ZACHARY WATTERSON: “A Soundtrack of the War” ©2016 Zachary Watterson. Printed with permission of the author.

  BRUCE WEIGL: Excerpt from Song of Napalm copyright © 19
88 by Bruce Weigl. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.

  ADAM WIEDEWITSCH: “Fisherman’s Hang” © 2016 by Adam Wiedewitsch. Printed with permission of the author. “Saint Michael, with Agent Orange” © 2007 by Adam Wiedewitsch, originally published in “Why Are We In Iraq” 3/8/2007.

  HANH NGUYEN WILLBOND: “War Music Awakening for Soldier’s Daughter” © 2012 by Hanh Weigl, originally published in Viet Nam News, 9/26/2012. Printed with permission of the author.

  MATTHEW WIMBERLEY: “Two Days Home” and “In My Father’s Words, 1969” © 2016 Matthew Wimberley. Printed with permission of the author.

  KAREN SPEARS ZACHARIAS: “The Man in the Jeep” published in After the Flag Has Been Folded by Karen Spears Zacharias © 2006 Harper Paperbacks. Reprinted with permission of the author.

  ALSO BY LAREN McCLUNG

  Between Here and Monkey Mountain: Poems

  LAREN McCLUNG is the author of Between Here and Monkey Mountain (Sheep Meadow Press 2012), a collection of poetry that addresses the aftermaths of war. Her father served one tour in Vietnam (1968–1969) deployed with the 173rd Airborne. Poet Afaa Michael Weaver writes of her collection: “The troubles of a nation’s wars come to bear on a child who grows into a poet who must lift these nightmares into her hands and remember.” Her poetry has appeared in journals and reviews including Harvard Review, Poetry, Massachusetts Review, War, Literature & the Arts, and elsewhere. She has been the recipient of a Teachers & Writers Collaborative Van Lier Fellowship, an Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Workshop Teaching Fellowship, and has led workshops in poetry at Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island and in the Creative Writing Program at New York University. She currently teaches at New York University.

  Copyright © 2018 by Laren McClung

  Foreword copyright © 2018 by Yusef Komunyakaa

  All rights reserved

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  Cover art: Shock and Awe, 2008. Chlorophyll print and resin. By Binh Danh, courtesy of the artist.

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