egg salad sandwich

there was a kid

in the seventh grade who

had a full

beard

at the age of fourteen.

he looked like

a pirate.

other kids mistook him

for one of

the faculty.

he was tall and gangly

and spoke

a mysterious

foreign language.

i remember he

packed the best lunches.

goat cheese

and meat wraps

in pita bread. pickles

home made sweets.

sometimes i'd trade

him my egg salad 

sandwich for whatever

he had.

he brought his own

salt and pepper

shakers in his back pack.

he'd open up

my sandwich and sprinkle

it with pepper,

then smile with his enormous

teeth.

good, he'd say. good.

the next year he was gone.