-{"Don't Pretend" by Kimberly Endicott, Survivorgrrl}-

Don't Pretend

Don't pretend
to know how I feel!
I hear the polite words spoken
by people who pretend to know.
Words like "I understand",
"It will get better",
"I know what you mean",
"I care", and
"You're a survivor".

How could anyone know ?
The pain, the fear, the anger,
and the inner turmoil.
Unless you have been there.
You can't know.

How could anyone know
What it's like to survive with a brain injury
What it's like to have your life ripped from you
in a blink of an eye.
What it's like to know you have a brain injury,
that will never heal,
to know the causes and effects of it all
but still not understand why.
What it's like to lose portions of your life,
your memories, yourself.
What it's like to have the words of communication locked away
Inside a brain that does not fully work.
The words are there, the thoughts are there.
Accessing them is the problem

Noone can fully understand
The utter hell
of living.
Unless you have been there,
living with a brain injury.

So don't pretend to know.
You can't even begin to
unless you have been there.