"TURN RIGHT OR BE LEFT BEHIND" by Ashley Hughes

Photo Credit: Scott Lee

They hung the sign on the country road
just past the field where the scarecrow prays.
White letters screamed against blood red tin:
“Turn right or be left behind.”

The gravel cracks under hesitant tires.
Some obeyed- signal blinking like a confession.
They follow the curve into neat little pews
where sermons echo like thunder in jaws.

But the ones with questions blooming like fungus
they pause, foot heavy on the brake,
hearts louder than the engine.

What’s left behind, they wonder,
when you don’t turn right?

The wind answers with crows.
The fence creaks like a warning.

They never make it to Sunday school,
never tasted the potluck grace.
But they learned the name of the stars
without being told which ones were holy.

Ashley is a self proclaimed Swiftie and history lover (in that order). She always dreamed she would write historical fiction, but found herself falling love with poetry during the pandemic. Through the online poetry group Gather, Ashley has been able to use poetry to explore the layers of growing up in a high control religion and cult. She has been published in the 2025 Gather Anthology and in the Upon Learning Anthology curated by Alex Dawson. She lives in South Carolina with her partner, two children, and two dogs. When she isn’t writing, she can be found with a book in her hand and Taylor Swift on the speaker. She can also be found on Instagram @ashhug_ and on her substack called Cult Following.