What Happened Was, by H.R. Thorn

Poetry, chapbook, 40 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

“I write until something stops me: that’s it. I meant everything. I still will tomorrow.”

What Happened Was is H.R. Thorn’s debut poetry collection that attempts to unravel the truths that make us human, the knots of secrets we share, and the veins of wounds we give each other—all with hands bound and tied. It is a culmination of memories, lingering moments, and heartbeats of a love that stings only once we let it.

This chapbook emerges from words raised, nurtured, and whittled in the Fall of 2024: a time in which the author found herself spliced between two places at once—Boston and New York City. Here, H.R. Thorn weaves together past and present to create a brutal but honest narrative that challenges reality and fantasy. At the heart of this collection is the rockstar grit of a city that’s brutal, honest, and unforgettable, even as it’s unforgivable. Together, these poems piece together shards to address themes of heartbreak, love, grief, freedom, martyrdom, and the breathlessness that comes once you’ve stopped running.

H.R. Thorn is a poet, editor, and current student at Emerson College pursuing a B.F.A. in creative writing. Her life passion is poetry. She seeks to unravel all of the raw edges of the human experience through her writing—the moments that linger, the feelings that tremble, and the love that changes it all. In addition to poetry, she loves music journalism and magazine writing. In short, to write is to live. Her poems have appeared in Dreamworldgirl zine, Dollheart zine, Flowermouth Press, Dulcet Literary Magazine, and elsewhere. This is her first collection.

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