ode to my exes ghost

a poem by jp thorn + interview + podcast

Bold, gutsy poetry straight to your inbox every Friday morning.

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jp thorn is a queer, neurodivergent artist raised in & returned to the bible belt. advocate for destigmatization & radically open communication, their work is inspired by humanness, reframing traditionalism, therapeutic processes, unlearning patriarchy, identity, & global patterns. they’re also a pushcart & best of the net 2025 nominee. you can find more of their works at www.thorn.jp​

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Maria: JP! The way I’m excited to publish this poem of yours. Ah! It’s so good. Tell us the story of this poem, and the story behind “after peter de potter.”

JP: thank you Maria! it is an honor. peter de potter has always been one of my favorite queer artists. he is a pioneer of combining poetic lyricism & homoeroticism into his work. this reference quotes a specific piece described by the artist as “poetry on scratched dog tags, photographed/cropped in the twilight hours.” two of the three people i’ve loved in my life are no longer with us; peter’s work often treads the line between queer experience & harsh realities, which i think this poem does as well. i wanted to bring some levity into the piece right at the beginning to exemplify the many stages of healing that coincide with grief while honoring my first love, one you never forget, of course. i also wanted to honor a period of time when connection required more effort (hence the T9 texts, lol) & the duality of loss/what accompanies long-term grief.

Maria: The poem jokes about girth, thickness, excess—yet it’s also incredibly precise. How do you think about indulgence versus control when writing an ode?

JP: great question! i have found that odes are traditionally written to praise rather than lament so with this piece i wanted to subvert that in a way; it became less lyrical & less universal as it was forming so i honed in on the sharper edges, which were things that built or encompassed our relationship. the specificity within the piece results from lived experience & the perpetual yearning that comes with the fact that you can never rectify mistakes or reconnect after the permanence of death, at least in this physical realm. i think he’d love it.

Maria: What is the most unusual poetry advice you’ve ever received? The most helpful?

JP: hmmm…i think the answer for this one might be the same: every attempt is a poem. maintaining that ideology has added much needed grace & slowness to my writing practice, which i’m forever grateful for. i think as artists we hold ourselves to incredibly high standards so the reminder to just try & let the process flow let’s me break out of self-imposed mental shackles.

Maria: I always ask this question because I find the answers so interesting. Many poets experience physical feelings when they read a good poem. Emily Dickinson famously said she feels like the top of her head is coming off. What physical sensations happen to you when you read or write a good poem?

JP: i feel as if i’m wading into a body of water: sometimes to cleanse, sometimes to float, sometimes to enjoy a flowing sensation, sometimes with rocks sewn into my pockets. there is always a sense of relief when i’m finally able to access something i’ve tried writing towards, & that release shows up as weightlessness found in water. i often feel physical relief within my body as if while writing i was floating in a sensory-deprivation tank.

Maria: Lastly, we often speak of what poetry is. I’m curious what you think poetry isn’t.

JP: now this seems like a trick question! i have always been turned off by traditions & norms for the most part so ultimately, poetry is whatever you make of it, & peter de potter’s work stamped on metal is a perfect example of that. the only concrete example i have for you is AI-generated poetry isn’t poetry, just a farce of words with no feeling.

Maria: Thank you so much for giving us the honour of publishing your work. Tell us where we can find you, say hi, and read more of your work!

JP: thank you again for this honor! i have a manuscript called urgency to live i’ve been working on that i hope we’ll see in print in 2027. i also have a website (www.thorn.jp) which features links to all my publicly available work & can be found on instagram @jpeeperz & also on substack! (https://jpthorn.substack.com/)

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Lots of love,

Maria Giesbrecht

EIC and Founder of Gather

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