The New Futurist

By Olivia Thomas

The New Futurist is a collection of poetry that began forming following the loss of Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. A pandemic was killing millions of people, my mother was dying of cancer, and America seemed to be trapped in a cycle where "nothing would fundamentally change."

 

Following my graduation from college in the fall of 2021, I was directionless and ended up working various jobs in nonprofit and education before eventually burning out at the end of 2023. 

 

All throughout that time, I struggled to maintain my interest in writing, believing that I was bound to public servitude by people with more power and influence than me. 

 

Nevertheless, I never gave up hope. I always knew that I would eventually return to poetry and resume my dream of becoming a great and renowned writer. For the first time in my life, I have no way of putting into literal words what my future may look like. This is all I know how to do. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Thomas
• Release date: Apr 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224795604

Olivia Thomas

Olivia Thomas is the pseudonym of an author and poet born and raised in rural North Carolina. They currently reside in Austin, Texas. 

Book preview

KAIROS I

A specter is haunting America:

The specter of progress.

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The elites of our nation,

Have entered into an alliance

To halt this movement,

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And breed discord among

The people:

Black and white,

Man and woman,

Gay and straight,

Old and young,

Cis and trans—

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Who reading this poem

Has not been called a progressive?

When did such a great aspiration

Become an insult?

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It is time that we talk about

What happened to cause this war...

The Starfish Poem

While walking along the beach,

I spotted a young girl

Throwing starfish into the ocean.

I inquired into her quest,

To which she replied, "All these starfish are going to die!

Someone’s got to save them!"

But you can’t save all these starfish, I told her,

Most of them are bound to die anyway.

"It doesn’t matter how many I save,

Only that I save as many as I can."

Not being able to refute her,

I joined her,

And soon many others joined too.

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But what are starfish?

What is the ocean?

Why do so many creatures die in such a manner?

Is it their destiny to die

Upon the dry, forgotten shore?

Is it our duty to save them,

Even if it is God’s decision

To have them killed?

Does He will it,

Or does humanity will it?

Is this the result of some tidal shift

Or algal bloom?

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We did not worry,

Only continuing our battle

Against the mighty ocean.

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God may not give us much,

But at least he gives us starfish to throw. 

My First Memory

I remember sitting on my kitchen floor

With a child’s watercolor set

And a sheet of printer paper,

Painting pictures of rainbows

Before my mother got home.

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I think it was that night she told me

About how two planes flew into the Twin Towers.

We didn’t know who did it then

Or why

Only that they were evil

And there was evil in the world.

Recipe for a New Body

Ingredients

●  1 FitBit™ monitor

●  1 gym membership

●  1 fitness coach

●  1 carton of Halo Top™ Ice Cream

●  1 Mexican tapeworm (contained inside a capsule)

●  1 plastic surgeon

●  1 skincare routine

●  1 pair of almond shaped eyes (preferably blue)

●  1 8-ball

●  6-12 inches of hair