Thumbing a ride to high school
he got a ride from his second cousin
a good conversation with him
a nice guy

weeks later the nice guy second cousin
shot a store clerk in a robbery
and went to prison for life

years after that, he broke out of prison
killed a prison guard

disappeared for ten years
police didn’t know where he was

became a celebrated poet in Chicago under an assumed name
awarded poet of the month as J. J. Jameson

a photo of him with the award in a local newspaper
caught the attention of a police office

the authorities finally caught up with him
second cousin killer poet back in prison

he tried to get paroled a couple of times
denied each time

until in his late seventies when sick and dying
paroled and died a few years ago.

Bob Boyd