Shaped by Survival Physiology *

The wind pounded the walls

like a scorned lover locked out

wanting in.

Wood creaked, windows rattled

everything flexed ever so slightly

to receive the concussive force of

the wind’s pummeling wrath

so as not to break, splinter or shatter.

It’s what we, too, unknowingly do

when extremes are pressed upon us

flex a little, receive a little

protect from within so as not break

and guard against so as not to shatter.

- Lauren Taub Cohen

(* Thank you, Kathy L. Kain, PhD, for introducing me to the phrase survival physiology during my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner training. )