TABLE OF CONTENTS
Caroline Bock and Jona Colson. FOREWORD | xv
PART I
Congressman Jamie Raskin. REMARKS AS DELIVERED AT THE HANDS OFF!
Rally on the National Mall | 3
Miho Kinnas & E. Ethelbert Miller. TO WRITE IS TO FLOWER | 10 David Keplinger. THE AMERICAN RUINS | 11
SNOW | 12
Len Kruger. CHILD PSYCHIATRIST: THE TELEVISION SERIES | 13 Dan Vera. THE ANTIVIRAL SPEAKS / CRITICAL MASS | 15
Azabache Floribunda | 17
Mary Kay Zuravleff. AN EXCERPT FROM ON THE HOOK | 18 Brandel France de Bravo. A CHRISTMAS IF YOU CAN KEEP IT | 25 Elizabeth Bruce. GOOD GOD, GOD | 26
Jason Gebhardt. PROVENANCE | 29
ANTHOLOGY OF THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION | 30 Oliver Kass. FLIRTING IN CHURCH | 31
Kim Roberts. FUTURE IMPERFECT | 36 Tara Campbell. BLACK FRIDAY EVE | 37
David Ebenbach. PREDICTING THE FUTURE | 40
The Main Lession From TV and Movies | 41
Beth Kanter. SUSPICIOUS GRATITUDE OR WHAT MY GRANDFATHER WHO CAME OVER IN STEERAGE LEFT ME | 42
Patric Pepper. THE LIVES OF THE ORCHIDS | 44 Mohini Malhotra. BABY NAMELESS | 45
Regie Cabico. SINUSITIS | 46 Nate McIntyre. WARBIRDS | 47
Jona Colson. LIST OF THE HOUSE SPEAKER’S CONCESSIONS | 49 Diana Rojas. IVANKA TRUMP, TRAITOR | 50
Gregg Shapiro. JUST BECAUSE | 56
Martha Anne Toll. AMERICA’S FUTURE IN DEAD PIANOS? | 57
Marlena Chertock. A NEW WORLD | 60 Cesar Felipe. THIS RIDE GOES ONE WAY | 62
Robert Michael Oliver. HOW LONG THIS WOUND | 66
Lisa V. Terry. MY TRIP TO VIETNAM AND THE UNANTICIPATED SHAME OF
Being an American | 68
Sunu Chandy. MANIFESTO FOR JANUARY 17, 2025 | 72
Activated | 74
Bernardine Watson. THREE GENERATIONS OF BLACK WOMEN AND A LOOK INTO AMERICA’S FUTURE | 76
Jaime Lee Jarvis. WHEN HE SAID HE WAS HUNGRY | 82
Deborah Gilbert White. WHY NOW? HOMELESSNESS AND
America’s Future | 84
Dwayne Lawson-Brown. AN EXERCISE IN SYNTAX | 89 Daien Guo. FORK IN THE ROAD | 91
Chloe Yelena Miller. ENGLISH VOCABULARY: NEGATION | 92 Trelaine Ito. WORK/LIFE | 93
Yermiyahu Ahron Taub. ACTIVIST’S RETREAT | 100
Heather L. Davis. TO THE WHITE SUPREMACIST WHO CALLED ME A
Breeding Vessel for the Hispanic Invasion | 102
Kristina Tabor. BECAUSE YOUR HEALTH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING | 104
Lisa Jan Sherman. TERRESTRIAL DIVIDE | 110
Naomi Ayala. NEWCOMERS’ DAY | 123
Constant Water | 124
Emma DiValentino. A BRIDGE IN BALTIMORE COLLAPSES | 125
Raffi Joe Wartanian. ERASURE: GEORGE W. BUSH ADDRESS ON SIGNING THE USA PATRIOT ACT | 126
Steve Loiaconi. WHAT WE TELL OUR CHILDREN | 128 Jean Nordhaus. THE FUTURE | 131
Leeya Mehta. THE DAY AFTER: SEARCHING FOR LANGUAGE FOR ANOTHER LOST GENERATION | 132
Natalie E. Illum. THERE IS NO CLIMATE CHANGE | 140
Vonetta Young. NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD | 141
Jayla Hart. EARTH WILL BE OKAY (AND SO WILL WE) | 149
Robert J. Williams. REUNION | 152 Danielle Evennou. INSECURITY | 155
Joanna Urban. MILANKOVITCH CYCLES AND OTHER STORIES | 156
Erica Simone Turnipseed. YOUR NAME | 164 Jackie Walker. WHEN COTTON WAS KING | 167 Rachel Reh. NEIGHBORLY | 175
Adrienne Benson. REBIRTH | 176 Miguel Avero. EMILIO | 180
Mark Brazaitis. CONFEDERATES FROM HELL | 185
Patience Williams. THE KILLING OF A SACRED AMERICAN DREAM | 187
Mary Ann Larkin. LET US PRAISE SADNESS | 191
Teresa A. Blair. THE REBIRTH OF A DEMOCRACY IN SLOW DEMISE | 192
PART II
Marvin Kalb. A VOICE OF COURAGE IN A TIME OF NEED | 197 Elizabeth Knapp. CAN AMERICA AVOID ANOTHER CIVIL WAR? | 203
Post-Pandemic | 204
Myna Chang. THE NEXT BILLIONAIRE IN THE QUEUE | 205 Tony Medina. IF I DON’T COME HOME | 206
Sara Furdui. A SHORT STAY | 207 Mike Reis. ARRIVAL | 210
Grace Cavalieri. THE BIRD IN THE CRIB | 211
Annie Marhefka. THINGS MY DAUGHTER IS LEARNING IN KINDERGARTEN (AN ABECEDARIAN) | 212
Matt Hohner. DOWN-BALLOT QUESTIONS | 218
Adam Schwartz. NOW THAT DEI IS DEAD, THINGS ARE LOOKING UP— FOR ME | 220
Steven Leyva. ICARUS JONES IMAGINES A CELL WITHOUT THE COUNT OF
Monte Cristo | 223
Julia Tagliere. THE AMERICAN QUESTION | 224 Yvette Neisser. TO AMERICA | 226
Kathleen Wheaton. RÁPIDO | 227 Henry Crawford. PREFLIGHT | 232
Fran Abrams. STARVED FOR DEMOCRACY | 233 Edward Belfar. PORTRAIT WITH BULLET HOLE | 235
- Luther Jett. BREATH SONG | 241
Sebastian Johnson. THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE AMERICA TODAY | 243
Laura Shovan. DEMOLITION | 248
The Botanist | 249
Alice Stephens. BABY’S FIRST OVOIDTM | 250 Kay White Drew. THE WANDERER | 253 Jessie Atkin. AFTER | 260
Doritt Carroll. TODAY | 261
Sid Gold. THE HUT | 262
Future Tense | 263
Madeleine Schneider. NINETY-SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT | 264 Robert Herschbach. ELECTION | 270
Stray Music | 271
Zorina Exie Frey. MARGINALIZED WHEEL OF FORTUNE | 272
Tanya Olson. WE ARE WHAT WE EAT | 273 Danielle Stonehirsch. THE WALK | 275 Barbara Goldberg. WHAT WILL BECOME | 278 Judith Bowles. PHYLOGENY | 279
Amber Smithers. MY DREAM | 280 Laurie Ward. THE DINER | 281
Kim A. Jensen. RIVER OF HONKING GEESE, RIVER OF SWANS | 284
Suzanne Feldman. MALLOWS BAY | 288
Bernard Welt. THIS IS WHERE THINGS START TO GET WEIRD | 290
Linda Dreeben. REVERBERATIONS | 293
Christina Daub. AMERICA | 301
Eric Baker. DON’T WORRY, IT’S NOTHING. | 302
Melanie S. Hatter. STARDUST | 305 Madeleine Mysko. AMERICAN GIRLS | 310
Hayley Igarashi Thomas. SECOND THOUGHTS | 312 Varun Gauri. THE GENERATIONS | 316
Cynthia G. Wagner. REMEMBRANCE OF FUTURES PAST | 317
Jacob Budenz. CASCADIA, OR A SPELL TO BANISH THE ABYSS OF HIM WITHOUT MOVING TO THE WEST COAST | 320
Invocation to Sgâthach | 322
Tracy Dimond. THE VISION OF A SHEETZ ATTACHED TO URGENT CARE | 325
Emily Holland. ELOPEMENT | 326
Gabby Gilliam. FIREWORK DISPLAY | 327
Jane Schapiro. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS | 328
Heather Bruce Satrom. YOU ASK ME ABOUT AMERICA’S FUTURE | 329 Mel Edden. THANKSGIVING AFTER THE ELECTION | 330
Joseph Ross. NOT AMERICAN HISTORY | 331
Patricia Schultheis. THE SCALES OF BEAUTY | 334 Serena Agusto-Cox. THE ASSIGNMENt | 344 Kathleen O’Toole. EPIPHANY | 345
Donald Illich. THE FUTURE, CONAN | 346
Kateema Lee. WHEN ASKED ABOUT TIME TRAVEL | 347
Neha Misra. YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE HEAD OF STATE RENAMING CEREMONY | 348
Jessica Genia Simon. I THOUGHT I’D HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR
My Daughter | 349
Garinè Isassi. REMEMBER THE FUTURE | 351
Ava Serra. WHEN AN AMERICAN SAYS EVERYWHERE HAS ITS PROBLEMS | 354
Caroline Bock. AN AMERICAN LAMENT | 355 Marceline White. DEAR AMERICA | 356 Cherrie Woods. MAKE AMERICA GREAT | 357
PART III
Jennifer Rodrigues. RAGING AGAINST THE SKY | 361
- Avvirin Berlin. BIRDIE’S FLIGHT | 363
Chanlee Luu. MY PRESIDENT IS A BRAT (BOOKISH, RELENTLESS, AMUSING, TENDERHEARTED) | 371
Nicole Bazemore. THIS IS PARADISE | 373
Holly Karapetkova. WE BELIEVED THE WORLD WAS ENDING | 377
Post Dobbs | 378
Erika Raskin. PULLING PEOPLE BACK | 379 Courtney LeBlanc. ETYMOLOGY OF HOME | 382
Patricia Fuentes Burns. WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF | 383
Piérre Ramon Thomas | AS THE QUEER SEER SEES IT; OR, FOLLOWING THE
Course of Events to Their Most Logical Conclusions | 384
Hannah Grieco. AFTER MY CHILD’S MEDICINE STOPS WORKING,
the Hospital Social Worker Asks Me If I Used Drugs During My Pregnancy | 386
Claudia Wair. FIREFLIES AND DANDELION WINE | 387
David Taylor. DRAWING ANIMALS | 395
Katherine E. Young. SUMMER SCHOOL (PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, VA) | 401
Richard Peabody. A GREAT DAY FOR A BALLGAME | 403 Hildie S. Block. BUT WHAT’S ON THE TEST? | 405
Laura-Gray Street. THE COUNTRY WE TRUSTED | 408
Four Hundred Miles From the March on
WASHINGTON: AUGUST 1963 | 410 Sally Toner. FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP | 411
G.R. Kramer. BREAKING NEWS | 416
Cheap Gas | 417
Erik Fatemi. GROUP PROJECT | 419
Kirsten Porter. WHAT HOPE LOOKS LIKE ON MONDAY | 422
Elnathan Starnes. DISORDER | 423
SOMA FALLOUT | 424
Christina M. Wells. WHAT A FUTURE AMERICA CAN LEARN FROM EARLY STAGE 4 CANCER | 425
Michele Evans. FENCES | 428
Nathan Leslie. AN ALLEY WEDDING | 429 Jyoti Minocha. WEDDING PLANS | 431
Lindsey Hull. COPPERHEAD IN THE SUGAR | 439 THE NAKED LINE | 440
Gregory Luce. EYES | 442 Leona Sevick. UPSHOT | 443
Zeina Azzam. AUTO REPAIR SHOP | 444 Timothy Rowe. THE VANISHING POINT | 445
Jessica Piscitelli Robinson. JOY FINDS A WAY | 452
Naomi Thiers. RICE BIKE | 456
- Falk. SCHEDULE F | 458
Nick Manning. FREE AT LAST | 464 Robert Hubbard. ARTIFRIEND | 469 Bethanne Patrick. SEA CHANGE | 473
Sean Murphy. TO SAVE OURSELVES WE MUST CONTINUE TELLING STORIES | 476
Martheaus Perkins. HIP-HOP DEBUTS AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART | 479
Susan Bucci Mockler. MYSTICAL CITIES | 481
America’s Future Biographies | 482
Notes on America’s Future Original Artwork | 506 Acknowledgements | 507