Cultish

| By Lauren Taglienti |

[Photo by Mark Rz via Pexels]

Cultish

By Lauren Taglienti

I was forced to be there, for the whole premise was obtuse to me, but nonetheless, I sat on the aisle, respectfully. Uniform-clad people trudged past me, ashes on their foreheads, engaged in the ritual, silent as slaughtered lambs. But then someone walked past and broke character and code. Like Michelangelo’s god to Adam, he brushed his forefinger against the shoulder of his seated friend as if to say, We’re stuck here. But I see you. We are not the robots they make us out to be.

An act of defiance.