We live in the most interesting of times. But times are always interesting….if you know where to look. About a month ago editor-in-chief Mike Pontacolini told me that the current issue of Murder Dog featured a three-page interview with poet Li-Young Lee. Once I heard the news I got to my car and made way to the library newsstand as fast as I could. I drove on a pedestrian roadway and parked illegally. I even forgot about buying beer before 9PM, as if this weren’t Connecticut. Then, I threw it on my coffee table, saving it for a day when only the words of Li-Young Lee could bring me out of a funk. Since then forgotten, I return to it now to one again appreciate how Lee’s face appears in the middle of a hip-hop magazine, sandwiched between such ads as, “the world’s 1^st massive sword hidden in a belt…curves around your waste in total comfort and deploys lightening fast,” and “drink money, smoke money, make money… Hunid Racks, the Energy Drink for the Real Hustlers.” Here is the letter I plan on sending to the editors, along with a resume:

Dear Murder Dog,

I recently bought an issue of your magazine on hearing that there was a three-page interview with Li-Young Lee in it. I cannot say I wasn’t shocked once I realized what kind of magazine this is. But though I am surprised to find my favorite poet appear in a hip-hop magazine, I admit that I am fascinated by every aspect of the idea. I’m about to turn to page fifty and I just wanted to let you know that I am more excited for this than when I received my first issue of Poetry. Unless your next issue features an interview with the aging W. S. Merwin, I will never buy it again. But thank you for this gift, nonetheless.

Respectfully,

Jen Orlando

Poetry Editor, Long River Review

University of Connecticut