Just Breathe is Trish Kerrison’s first full collection. The poems examine the act of breathing from the viewpoint of a mother whose two eldest sons have a condition where their ability to breathe has slowly decreased over their lifespan to the point where they now fully depend on ventilators. “Just’ breathing is an act we barely think about, yet without which we would not survive. These poems are a raw and frank invitation to the reader to consider the emotional and philosophical effects of watching those you love gradually become unable to do what we all take for granted. She is the author of an earlier Five Leaves New Poetry pamphlet, Beyond Caring, which has been reprinted twice – fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/product/beyond-caring/

Just Breathe is reviewed at length here in London Grip – https://londongrip.co.uk/2025/01/london-grip-poetry-review-trish-kerrison/

Trish Kerrison was a nurse for thirteen years, and after that a Tutor of Adult Literacy. She is also the mother of four children, the eldest two of whom have the condition Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic disorder, primarily found in boys, which causes progressive and life-limiting muscle failure. In 1996, when her sons (then aged two-and-a-half and one) were diagnosed, their prognosis was eighteen years. They are now aged twenty-nine and thirty.