I AM STILL WARREN BRUCE!

In the blink of an eye, my world was torn,

That cool January afternoon was born

A silence deep behind my eyes,

A storm that fractured the very skies.

The man I once was, a distant shore,

That self I was, I see no more.

Not with pity, not with shame

But with fire and a refining name.

I now move through fog with little grace,

At times cast away from time or space.

A stranger's voice may wear my face—

Yet I am still Warren Bruce, in this is my place.

My mind, a quarry of endless turns,

Where present hides and the past burns.

A laugh may blast, then tears may spill,

I fall, I stagger, but I am climbing still.

I’ve woken in a state of confusion, I, dare not know,

My dog beside me, curled in woe.

They guide me to the quiet of the dark,

Where terror and pain leave their mark.

As the pain becomes a flood,

I whisper questions to a living God—

“Why do I live? What does my breath remain?”

He answers softly through the pain:

"Child, I have held you through the fire,

Not to break, but to inspire.

Your journey may bend, but it is not far from done

The battle's long, my son, you have won."

I rise again, though bruised and scarred,

A soul reshaped, a life becoming so hard.

Yet still I walk from dusk and dawn

My name shall be true and forever marching on.

For I am still Warren Bruce, forgiven, and so much more,

Forged in the fire and the crack at the door.

Not who I was, yet made whole—

Maybe a broken shell but with a burning soul.

Author's Notes

Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS): What is it?

This poem looks at it from one person's point of view. For educational and background purposes here is a little more about it,

Most people think of a concussion as something you bounce back from in a week or two and for most, this is very true. Most symptoms clear up within 10 to 14 days. Unfortunately for between 10 to 20 percent of people, the symptoms don’t just slowly drift away. They linger for months and sometimes for some for years and years.

This condtion is called Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS), or persistent post-concussive symptoms. It’s usually diagnosed when symptoms last more than three months after the initial injury. For some these stmptoms can last over a year or more. There are people who deal with long-term or even permanent changes caused by PCS.

Living with PCS can feel like being stuck in a dizzy fog that others don’t see. It’s frustrating, isolating, and so very often misunderstood.

This poem is written for people to understand PCS. It is also written for those that sever through the stigma, the isolationand isolation cased by PCS.

Thank you please, like, comment and follow my writing.

Respectfully Bruce