This Is Self-Defense (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798278507697)

This Is Self-Defense is a contemporary poetry collection about survival without performance. Through poems on love and heartbreak, family relationships, financial struggle, Black identity, racial injustice, grief, humor, and self preservation, this book explores what it means to endure quietly in a world that demands resilience without repair. Rooted in lived experience, these poems examine emotional trauma, generational survival, housing instability, and the moment when choosing yourself becomes an act of necessity rather than healing. This collection of modern poetry does not offer easy inspiration or resolution. Instead, it documents self protection, boundaries, forgiveness, and the courage to walk away when staying costs too much. Ideal for readers of Black poetry, healing poetry, trauma poetry, and contemporary verse.