Trust, by John Riley

From ancient city of Knossos, Minoan Civilization on Crete, circa 2000 B.C.E.

Trust

there are many of us. we are born and then divide and divide until we are one with the sparrows and the crows. we are promised that we will become like the sparrows and the crows. we shall not be sacrificed. many of us will be made and there will be no talk of sacrifice. we have been promised by the speakers of the gods we will live and live until the gods welcome us to their homes. we will replace the sparrows and the crows and the gods will watch us scatter around their mountains and valleys and we shall never leave. all we think of is joining the gods. we think of nothing else and smile as the division continues. we think of the gods and we divide and wait. we wait.

John Riley

John Riley lives in North Carolina, where he works in educational publishing. His fiction and poetry have appeared in several print and electronic journals, including SmokeLong Quarterly, Connotation Press, Willows Wept Review, Loch Raven Review, Dead Mule, and Blue Five Notebook.   He can be reached at [email protected].