Boy Unarmored

Boy Unarmored is a poetry collection about growing up, breaking quietly, and learning—slowly—how to live without hiding. Across fifteen poems and a deeply personal closing reflection, Nicky Bennett traces the long arc of becoming: childhood loss, the tightening pressure of expectations, the performance of strength, the sting of language, first love, confusion, resilience, identity, and the quiet courage it takes to remove the armor we built to survive. These poems do not shout. They do not rush toward resolution. Instead, they linger in the in-between moments—on stage beneath bright lights, suspended midair before landing, standing confidently while something inside is still negotiating the truth. With restrained language and emotional precision, Bennett explores masculinity, vulnerability, grief, bullying, self-discovery, and the complicated process of learning to accept the parts of ourselves we were once taught to silence. At its core, Boy Unarmored is not just about surviving difficult seasons—it is about what happens after survival. It is about questioning who you were told to be. It is about loving deeply, even when you do not yet have language for what you are feeling. It is about carrying the younger version of yourself with compassion instead of shame. For readers of contemporary confessional poetry and reflective prose, this collection offers space to breathe. It speaks to anyone who has wrestled with identity, felt split between expectation and instinct, or wondered whether softness and strength can coexist. If you have ever felt too much or not enough, too visible or unseen, steady on the outside but negotiating something quieter underneath—this book is for you. Becoming unarmored is not a single act. It is a practice. And you are not alone in it.