In an interview, Garrett Hongo stated that he wrote the poem "The Legend" after he saw on the news that an Asian man was accidentally shot on a Chicago street. Hongo dedicates his poem "In memory of Jay Kashiwamura.” Readers can most likely assume that this name alludes to one of Hongo’s relatives. one of Hongo’s poetry professors. the man who was shot in Chicago. the boy from Chicago in the poem.