Breathing

Is he dead or is he alive?
Will he make it through the night?
Listening, straining
Soft puffs of air breathing
Pause
Instant count – one, two, three, four, five
Soft inhalation
Breathe. Breathe.
He breathed.
Calm, heart.
He is breathing.
Listen harder
Is he still?
Breathe shallowly, to not disguise the sound
Small pockets of air
He is breathing.
Roll over.
Mucous choked breath
Coughs, then a small wail
Jump out of bed on speed
Grab the saline
Puff puff, into his nose
Incline the bed further
Check the nest is tight
Stand and watch
Count
One, two, three
He is breathing

Breathing represents many nights, but particularly when he often had bronchiolitis and pneumonia and struggled to breathe through his congestion and small nasal passageways. He was between 6 to 10 weeks old.

About MANY PATHS, MANY VOICES

At Te Wahi Ora Women’s Retreat, with the guidance of Hilary Star, women have been sharing their creativity through writing.

We regularly run Women’s Writing Retreats. Our experience is that as we read and hear the words from these ‘many voices’, something new and healing begins to emerge from within us. We can also hear that the healing pathways that lead us individually into wholeness and wisdom, are amazingly varied!

This blog is a chance to glimpse and to add our own ‘voices’ to the ‘many paths’ women are using to move towards wholeness. Hence the name of our writers Blog - Many Paths, Many Voices.

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