Bruises do not always announce themselves. Some slip beneath sleeves, some hide behind laughter, some masquerade as achievement or style. In how they hide their bruises, from my upcoming book These Kids Are Fighting, I write toward these disguises, the subtle choreography of pain that learns to survive in plain sight.
This episode of Poetry in Layers is both a poem and a meditation on trauma’s camouflage. I step inside the ways we mask what aches: sarcasm sharpened into armor, eyeliner crafted into dignity, jokes that keep the room laughing while the heart trembles offstage. Drawing from Internal Family Systems, somatic psychology, and narrative therapy, I consider how each coping strategy is not a weakness but a survival story, a protective part doing its best to guard a wounded self.
Yet, beneath every disguise is a hope: that someone might ask gently enough, stay long enough, and listen deeply enough to remind us our bruises were never our fault. This is an episode about the brilliance of survival, the heaviness of concealment, and the possibility of healing when presence replaces performance.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:17 - Some Wounds Aren’t Visible
01:34 - The Poem: how they hide their bruises
03:36 - This Poem is a Lens
04:27 - The Clinical Breakdown
08:40 - Healing: With Tenderness and Truth
10:03 - Second Reading: to my body
12:01 - Closing
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Carl's Publication
The Mis-Execution of a Black Son by Carl Patterson, LPC - https://amzn.to/3UyX6nP
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Book Resources
As Amazon Affiliates, we earn from qualifying purchases
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Poetry Books:
Brute by Emily Skaja - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1555978355
Split by Cathy Linh Che - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938584058
The Terrible Stories by Lucille Clifton - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1880238373
Trauma Monsters: A Collection of Poetry by JonKeL - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C26KKBZV
Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat by Khalisa Rae - https://www.amazon.com/dp/159709885X
Psychology Related Books:
The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143127748
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma – Peter A. Levine, Ph.D. - https://www.amazon.com/dp/155643233X
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog – Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. & Maia Szalavitz - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465056539
Trauma and Recovery – Judith Herman, M.D. - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465061710
Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain – Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. & Marion Solomon, Ph.D. - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393703960
Coping With Trauma, Second Edition – Jon G. Allen, Ph.D. - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593850271
Decolonizing Trauma Healing (Edited Collection) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433836227
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Carl Patterson is a licensed professional counselor, published author, public speaker, and spoken word artist. Click the link to learn more about Carl and his works - https://www.familysolutionsok.com/carl-patterson
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This podcast is published and produced by Family Solutions Media, a media program of Family Solutions Counseling. For more great content, please check out our LinkTree - https://www.linktr.ee/familysolutionsok