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Breath Of Life

I lie awake, listening;
The baby monitor buzz
And green light
Keep me close to him.
Through static
And thin walls
His rattle and wheeze
Speaks of fragility;
The fine line
Between giggle and grave
Never more obvious.
Each in and out,
Like tides of time,
Prolong his little life
By a breath's width...
Hypnotic this dance -
A rhythm of anxiety,
For how can I sleep
When breaths are broken?
Your fever is a kiln
For dreams,
Firing them into
Burden weights
Upon your tiny brow.
And here am I,
Your father sworn
To fight dragons for you
Or rend the cruel world
In your defence -
Made helpless by bacteria
For strong arms
And protective fury
Cannot fight this
Battle for you.
So I keep this patient
Bleary vigil -
A night divided into breaths...
The breaths of your life
I hope may ebb and flow
Long after mine are gone.

Get well, little son.

wolfie

@wolfie

The Octoberman. All I need is a bottle of Talisker, a keyboard and you. Facebook: Nikarkham www.nikarkham.co.uk

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Comments & Feedback (40)

Awe hope he gets better soon beautiful post I really liked this 😘

Awe get well soon little wolf cub, sounds like a great dad protecting you from the dragons and other beasties. πŸ’š

Get well little man πŸ‘

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Ohhh dear! Sending him our love and hopes for a speedy recovery. How old?

This is beautiful but also makes me feel sick to the stomach from personal experience. Beautifully written & hope all is well for you & your boyπŸ˜”πŸ˜Œ

Get well soon 🌹

πŸ’™πŸ’›πŸ’œπŸ‘ΆπŸ’—πŸ’›πŸ’š

@aleishagayle20 thanks. Hopefully he'll get better today :-)

@naaviie those things I could at least try to protect him from... It's the sickness I can't do much about. Feel a bit helpless. Thanks for the message tho.

@TheViolator @RichWithey thanks mates

@Fly10 know what you mean. We spent hours at the hospital yesterday as his temperature was so high and he was dehydrated and shaking. Scary. What happened with you?

@ckahn thanks ... He's thirteen months

@littleone @powpunch thank you

@wolfie - I know, that's got to be tough but at least you are there for him 😊

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Awww poor baby hope he gets better quickly, thoughts are with you x

@wolfie very powerful sir! Hope the little man is ok, thoughts are with you and family mate πŸ’™πŸ‘πŸ™

Aww hope he gets better soon 😘

@RichWithey hi mate.. Sorry I've only just replied. Been a busy day. Looks like wolf jnr is improving thanks. He's finally drinking and not dangerously hot. Little sod scared me there :-) all ok with you? Just seen your new look - you've now gone from Christ-style to myopic Titanic captain in one month. You chameleon

@sjw thanks sienna. That was great... All those thoughts obviously helped

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Hope he's getting better thoughts and prayers are with you all, Little Baby Wolfie 😌😘

@wolfie glad to hear he's getting better ❀

A true father. Beautiful 😊

Sorry for late reply & glad to hear your little man seems to be on the mend😌 My daughter had prob with breathing initially diagnosed as suspected asthma. Ended up in A&E few days later with her barely able to breath at all & frantic tests for TB πŸ˜” Came back clear (thank god) but still rumbling on with consultant appt lined up etc to find out what's causing it. I just related to the helplessness you described...kinda not meant to be that way is it?

@smellyfingers thanks for that pal. Much appreciated. Downhill again - and eldest son now ill. Need to paint a cross on the front door and shout 'unclean' out the window :-)

@RichWithey no-one would have you any other way :-) or any of your personalities :-)

@Fly10 exactly. It's this kind of situation which is one of the difficult parts of parenting. Something we all have to get through. Good luck with the consultants appt. those can be battles in themselves, when they won't listen

@eddie12309 thank you :-)

@Delilah thanks - so kind :-)

@wolfie Bloody right. Mind you, I'm no wolf, but I can give a nasty bite when I need to-especially when guarding my cubsπŸ˜‰

@Fly10 I can imagine. It's the greatest anger I've ever felt - in safeguarding my small ones

@Fly10 ... And mothers are fiercely protective... Seen it! :-) here's to moms!

@redfae Ally, thank you muse lady

@wolfie can't believe I missed ths post...such a heartfelt poem...hope your little ones are ok?...:):)

@misslittleDHP thanks Kim. They're on the mend now. Coupla tense moments back there :-)

@wolfie what a relief for you and your family...o glad for you :):)

No silly rating here, one of the best poems I've ever read mate, after what's happened to me this year really got me😒

@glen Very grateful for such a kind comment. what happened?

@wolfie well me and my girlfriend lost a baby earlier in the year mate

I'll delete that after you read it if you don't mind

@glen no worries. I'm so, so sorry. My thoughts are with you mate.

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