Seeing for the first time his face

in black and white, his mug
shot beside the homecoming
king and queen of Blufton High
smiling and waving, beside
the headline Anti-Polio Pills Show
Great Promise, he appears
below the line
Escapees from County Jail
front page, top left corner, my uncle

though he wasn’t that yet

he was

at large, six one, one eighty, he was
24 and not smiling. He was “the most
desperate” they said of the three men
tear-gassed from a cabin and locked in county jail.
The one being questioned about a body
with a bullet in its ribs, another behind
the right ear. The one who jumped the jailer
fist to eye socket, fist to jaw, unlocking
the cells, all three escaping on foot
unarmed but “highly dangerous.”
Every cop, dick and sheriff out looking for him

and now

I’m looking too.