Absolution Poem by Bryan Riley

I told you before
about cities that
gleam and
machines that
dream
They dream well
but
have no conscience
If you wish
to be absolved,
you must
cry unclean

Wicked boys
and
dirty girls

You can live
your life in
a vacuum,
hoping nothing
ever changes,
but it does,
and the world
moves on,
and you wake up
one day to find
the world has
moved on,
and you're
left behind

-You're only as sick
as your secrets-

In the space
of a breath
In the flick
of a wrist
Vertical-
Horizontal-
You are
absolved.
Go forth.