This Poem Kills Fascists is Thomas R. Thomas' reaction to the tragic first year of Trump's (and his handler's) second, and far worst take-over. Liberty stands weeping; Justice ignores the heavy thumb; pigs fight for position feeding at the public trough. That is the Kleptocracy that is today. Brownshirt Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Boogaloo henchmen mask as immigration enforcement, opposing voices are silenced, shadowy forces pull the strings of congress—this is only the first year of occupation. Next years mantra: “Damn the consequences, full steam ahead.”
While most others in the arts run for cover, try to hold onto their fellowships and grants, hide behind a camouflage of distraction and indifference, and add to the spectacle, Thomas R. Thomas is different. He pulls no punches, doesn't sugarcoat reality with allusions to a great by and by justice. This Poem Kills Fascists voices expresses the horror that is each morning's headlines. He joins resistance voices from the past who stood up to fascism: Paul Éluard, Nelly Sachs, and Pablo Neruda.
On my first birthday my father was absent, crossing the Remagen Bridge with the 1st Army, and then going on to assist liberating Nazi labor and concentration camps. I grew up in the shadow of his stories, spoken and unspoken. I think of past lives shattered and lost in defense against fascism, present lives displaced as political theater, only to find the movement again alive and well. The poems in This Poem Kills Fascists are raw, unvarnished songs against the clear and present evil before us.
—Kendall Johnson December 12, 2025, Author of Fireflies For These New Dark Ages
The poems in this collection come from the spirit of a truly better world in the overwhelming face of injustice. Thomas R Thomas and his irreverent, heartfelt mastery for brevity, has never been so righteously passionate and dedicated to art as a form of resistance in a time when it is so desperately needed. Let the poets ring the bell of truth, he writes, and he sure the hell does here. He speaks so well for many of us with a pen that bleeds and cries for his country. Let this book be a rallying call and a place of balance for readers everywhere.
—Kevin Ridgeway, author of Death of the Coppertone Girl (Luchador Press)
There are so many reasons to admire Thomas R. Thomas. He is a man of caring and quiet morality. He is a person of understated grace who does not care for the spotlight. He is a man who helps his family and his neighbor, and his neighbor might be anyone who is alive and sharing this world with him. Beyond all else he is a man of principle. Along with all of that, he is a fine and talented poet whose work I read over and over. With the tyrant at our door, Thomas has turned his considerable talents to speaking the truths that need to be spoken about those who desire fascism to become the norm. This collection shines light on the evil that has always been present in the United States of America and has begun to accelerate. I'd follow Thomas with his moral center anywhere. This collection is brilliant. As Thomas writes in this book, "let the poets ring the bell of truth." He has done so.
—John Brantingham, author of Gone Back to Wild.
Thomas R. Thomas has the valiant courage to speak out. With a deft rapier he cuts open the festering wound that needs air to breathe. In the claustrophobic landscape that is enveloping the land, his poems are lighthouses that lead the way to mental safety. His words are the salve that heals. With each line betraying the shaking honesty that is needed to be released, his poems are like a worn family afghan that keeps you comforted and safe. When reading the poems we realize that we are not alone. The earth is trembling, society is tilted and his words sing to sparrows in the trees. A true gift of hope that shines through the cavernous clouds.
—T. Anders Carson, author of Unfortunately, Thanks for Everything
The table of contents for This poem kills fascists reads like a long poem, in which the reader might fill in the blanks. Of course it is not. TRT is known for his short, pithy, poems, and in this collection they are darts to the heart of their target.
—Donna Hilbert, author of Enormous Blue Umbrella
Like driving a classic sports car on the open road, shift, speed and freedom are embodied in these political poems by Thomas R. Thomas. “Breaking News” display road signs that distract us with roadside attractions and “alternative” routes, or they point us forward relentlessly without a rest stop in sight. (People of color know this all too well, freedom of the open road was a promise unkept.) On the analog radio of real life, we are “clap-trap blasted… by sheep bleating nonsense words without meaning.” Thomas demonstrates the mental effort to make sense of the road we are on as political forces wreck familiar streets or obstruct the flow of the American culture of destination, setting up roadblocks on the Constitutional freeway approaching Democracy.
—Mary Torregrossa, author of My Zócalo Heart
