This poem comes from my irritation at how every change is sold as progress, and how quickly everything that came before it gets treated as junk. It’s part of the HUSH HALO concept, my personal art project of dystopian poetry. To date, it’s not been printed or published anywhere else.
Promises, Promises
Hush Halo · Poetry by Sam Oldman
You describe
what’s coming
as a salvation.You deliver promises
like updates
without backups.You act
as if the old and worn
never had value.It had.
You promise ‘the new’
like it’s a step forward.It’s not.
©2026 Sam Oldman
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CONTEXT: After the Great Optimization we all had a choice. These poems reflect on the realm chosen by Systoics, a privileged group that integrated into the system, believing they had now perfected themselves.
I’m Sam.
A mother of two,
a neurohappy writer with
a shade of inbuilt melancholy.
———
Hush Halo is my indie art project.
Please support if you can.
HUSH HALO is a dystopian sci-fi poetry collection
set in a near-future, shaped by technology and irreversible choice. Each poem is paired with a unique soundscape. Poetry and concept by Sam Oldman. Images and soundscapes are created by the writer using various generative tools.
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