Before The Armor: The Pain I didn’t Know I Carried (The Wounds We Carry)

Before the Armor is a raw, unflinching poetry collection about the pain we inherit, the secrets we carry, and the healing we fight for... long before we even have the language for it.Told through the voice of Elijah, a Black boy growing up in the shadows of silence, abandonment, and survival, these poems peel back the layers of a childhood spent crossing worlds that required toughness while starving him of tenderness. Here, father wounds meet alleyway truths, cracked vials and cracked voices, kitchen-table prayers and the quiet grief of boys who were never allowed to cry.This book speaks to the child inside...the one who hid everything, swallowed everything, and grew up too fast. Zola Imani’s pen holds space for the parts of us that learned to armor up before we ever felt safe.For anyone healing from trauma, growing up without a father, breaking cycles, or learning to name their story for the first time, this book is for you. Read more