I don't like.

I don't like the sound made when the tongue unsticks from the roof of the mouth. Or the feeling that you get when you focus on any one part of your body, a tickling nothing. I don't like being pacified or touched softly when I'm annoyed. I don't like men whose faces turn weak and ugly without warning (was there a warning?). I don't like being bored. Passive aggressiveness. Awkward pauses and drawn out explanations. I don't like being told to stop asking questions, being misunderstood, having to maintain a reputation. I don't like doilies on dresses or frizzy, half up with a gold barrette church hair. I don't like monotony, uniformity, predictability. I don't like tediousness, dirt under my fingernails, or fake smiles. I don't like not being able to say everything that I have to. I don't like that I don't have much of a choice.

I like.

I like the sound of clicking keys and speculative pauses. Also acrylic fingernails on counter tops and the smell of hairspray, cigarettes, and perfume together. I like full lips and strong jaws, also hot coffee with cream, sugar, and some cinnamon. Ripe avocados with salt, precisely applied mac eye makeup, and bitten fingernails. Hot days with burning sneaker soles, 25 cent sugar waters, and beef patties. Roof tops at night, and bare feet on cold ground. I like shirts off, pounding drums and sweat that pours from pores until its barely salty. I like laughing when hardly anyone knows whats funny, and dancing on the subway to pass the time. Barely kissing but tasting warmth, and swimming in creeks that are clear and cold. The unexpected from the predictable and climbing trees like a monkey. Coconut froz fuit and winding hips until my spine melts away. I like mangoes and rhythm and popping packing paper under jumping feet.I could go on forever with this. I like that I won't.