He brushes her messy hair out of the way
Of her light brown eyes and crooked smile.
He looks at her smile,
An imperfect smile, so wonderfully imperfect
Like a blistered oyster, only one crack away
From revealing its secrets.
A chuckle, a snort, a laugh unlike any other,
She isn’t afraid to laugh
She isn’t afraid to be herself
She isn’t like other girls
He says, “You aren’t like other girls, I like that”
And she smiles again.
Not like Other Girls
“Other Girls”
Words spit out
Like teeth spit out
Like Other Girls, like teeth, all uniform, all the same
Like Other Girls can be fit into one category
Into a box carefully labeled in black ink, shoved into a mouth,
A label small enough to fit into a mouth,
A label big enough to fit half a population,
There’s a choking hazard.

He says, “You aren’t like other girls, I like that”
Not like Other Girls
Not like girls who wear makeup
Or like girls who paint their nails
Or like ditzy girls who only think about boys
Or like girls who wear dresses
Or like girls who make messes
Or like girls who eat salad
Or like those feminist ones who can’t take a joke.
Not like Other Girls.
Because that's how Other Girls are, right?
Because girls are all like teeth, right?
Because girls aren't fingers or toes
or limbs or lips or lungs.
No, teeth.
Girls are teeth.
Indistinguishable, lined up for inspection
All uniform, all the same.

He says, “You aren’t like other girls, I like that”
Not like Other Girls
He decided that she is not like them
He decided that she is better than the
Other Girls
That she is teeth and also lips
And jaws and eyes and fingertips
That she is something beautiful
And that Other Girls are not.

He says, “You aren’t like other girls, I like that”
That’s why he likes her
Because obviously he doesn’t like high-maintenance headaches
Like all those Other Girls,
Those terribly monotonous
Hollow cavities
Waiting to be fixed.
He decided
Those Other Girls are teeth to him
Teeth he can fit into a mouth
Teeth that he can spit out.

He said, “You aren’t like other girls, I like that”
And he forgot that teeth could bite him.