Jacob Mckibbin

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH A POLICE MUGSHOT

wanted in connection with a series of burglaries
committed between July and September.
Weeks before the police appealed for information
the mugshot had squared up to me & got so close
I could read the small print of the scar on his forehead.
When the warrant was issued the mugshot
abandoned his hostel room. Throwing out
his belongings I found 30 kilograms of York
weightplates amongst the dirty clothing & paraphernalia.
The mugshot was in care as a child. When I was
a child my parents would abandon the house for days
as if warned that a hurricane was approaching.
The mugshot squared up to me & told me
to look him in the eye. I too have looked in a mirror &
seen a mugshot. Walked down a street feeling that everyone
had been prewarned not to approach. The mugshot
squared up to me and told me to look him in the eye &
I did & he looked away first.

Jacob Mckibbin is a poet from Oxford. Previous work has been published in Propel Magazine, Oxford Poetry, The Rialto and elsewhere. More poems can be found at instagram.com/nofixedauthor 

Jacob wrote the following about his poem:

This poem was written about someone I know who had recently been given a prison sentence. In the months before he was sentenced he had shown a real motivation to change — unfortunately like so many people with significant childhood trauma he has substance use issues. This poem was trying to explore the differences and the similarities between my life and his.