In this season finale of Poetry in Layers, I share one of the most personal and painful pieces I have ever written. The poem reflects a moment of police brutality I experienced when I was twenty years old. The episode focuses on how racism, mistaken identity, and state violence shape the nervous system long after the event ends. I guide listeners through the poem’s structure, its clipped and repetitive language, and how that form mirrors the rhythm of hypervigilance and survival. Through an IFS and somatic lens, I explore the protectors, the exiles, and the physical responses that emerge when danger comes from those who carry authority.

I expand the frame to explore the cultural and historical patterns that surround these encounters. I reflect on how Black men often become symbols of suspicion, how the phrase be safe becomes a mix of blessing and warning, and how generational trauma lives in breath, posture, and memory.

This episode offers an invitation to witness truth, to honor the body’s story, and to consider how safety and dignity can become shared responsibilities. When I return to the poem a second time, I ask listeners to hear the words and also feel the weight behind them.

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Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

00:22 - The Importance of Vulnerability

03:36 - The Poem: bus stop Black man

07:00 - The Literary Breakdown

11:41 - The Clinical Breakdown

15:12 - The Cultural Breakdown

18:09 - Reflective Questions

19:27 - Be a Witness

20:50 - Second Reading:l bus stop Black man

23:47 - 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

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Poetry Books:

Citizen: An American Lyric — Claudia Rankine

Incendiary Art — Patricia Smith

Stereo(TYPE) — Jonah Mixon-Webster

Psychology / Healing Books

Black Men and Racial Trauma — Yamonte Cooper

Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience — Sheila Wise Rowe

Racial Trauma: Clinical Strategies and Techniques for Healing Invisible Wounds — Kenneth V. Hardy (Editor)