In Episode 5 of Poetry in Layers, I turn to Gwendolyn Brooks’ legendary “We Real Cool” as the heartbeat behind my own poem, juvenile. Brooks captured the brilliance and danger of youth in just eight lines, and her work pushed me to write a poem that confronts how young people today are judged before they are understood and criminalized before they are comforted. juvenile is written in couplets that pit “we” against “they,” echoing the constant tug-of-war between survival and surveillance, freedom and judgment. It’s about the beauty and tragedy of growing up in a world where trauma is the foundation.

This episode is about what lies beneath the surface of teens and preteens experiences. I explore how Liberation Psychology, Narrative Therapy, Somatic Therapy, and Internal Family Systems help us see beyond labels like ADHD, oppositional defiance, or conduct disorder. Behind those diagnoses live kids carrying grief, abandonment, racial trauma, and protector parts that learned survival at all costs.

This episode offers both a critique of the systems surrounding youth and a call to therapists, teachers, parents, and communities to witness them with depth, dignity, and compassion. These kids are the poem.

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Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

00:20 - We Real Cool Inspiration

01:34 - Mental Health Crisis Amongst Youth

02:54 - The Poem: juvenile

04:06 - The Literary Breakdown

05:04 - Introduction to Clinical Breakdown

06:03 - Liberation Psychology Breakdown

07:35 - Narrative Therapy Breakdown

09:12 - Somatic Therapy and Polyvagal Theory Breakdown

10:55 - IFS Breakdown

14:20 - Working with Youth

15:18 - Reflection Question

16:07 - Second Reading: juvenile

17:21 - 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 Related Books

Infections of Loss by Rushika Wick → https://amzn.to/PoetryLoss

Tales of Trauma to Triumph by Kat Copeland → https://amzn.to/TraumaTriumph

Psychology Related Books

Writings for a Liberation Psychology by Ignacio Martín-Baró → https://amzn.to/LiberationPsych

Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy by Susan McConnell → https://amzn.to/SomaticIFS

Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine → https://amzn.to/WakingTiger