The Only Kids On The Field

The first time I ate lunch
With a boy, I was eleven,
Alone, sitting under a birch tree
With my brown paper bag,
Lying by my side, unopened
May. Flowers blossoming.
Cross-legged, a book to my nose
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Not reading every word, but
Watching the others play
Longing, but never approaching,
As I watched on
I noticed one staring back
Smiling, he walked over to me
Lunch box in hand, swinging side to side.
Unsure if he was going to join me, until
He stood at my feet
And politely asked to sit down
Something funny tickled the inside
Of my stomach. I nodded.
His Star Wars lunch box reflected my smile
Unlatching hinges, he took out his meal
An egg salad sandwich, and a Twinkie
Nestled beside an apple juice.
He eyed the bag at my side,
My face heated ever so slightly,
At the crumpled paper,
Beside his tin box, filled with goodies.
His eyes smiled as,
If I was the one who held,
The better lunch of the two of us.

He asked if I would like to share
I opened my bag and
We swapped our sandwiches
My PB&J, for his egg salad
How he knew it was,
My favourite, I do not know.
We ate, enjoying the silence,
And each other’s company
Watching the others jump rope
Gossip, and play kick ball.
Up on the little hill,
Warm sun peeling through the branches,
Of the tree against my back
Brushing the crumbs, off of
Our laps, marching ants collecting them up

Popping the lid off,
Of the glass apple juice bottle
He slid in two straws,
Offering me a sip or more.
Our fingers touched,
As I took the bottle in my hand
The juice was both
Refreshing and sweet,
Like him
Peeling the wrapper open,
He pulled out the twinkie
With careful fingers, and split it
In two, offering me the larger half
I bit into it,
The cake melting on my tongue
The icing as sweet
And creamy as could be
Suddenly he began to laugh
I could feel the burning
In my cheeks
Noticing my change in colour,
He pointed to his nose.
My finger mirrored his
And I felt the white icing,
Smudged on my soft skin.
Looking at my icing-covered finger
I started to laugh,
Along with my boy as well.
So hard we fell to our sides
Rolling down the hill
Into a sky as blue as the sea
Spotting sailboats and rabbits,
Made of fluffy white cotton.
We laid there all recess
Sharing stories,
As if we were the only
Kids on the field.