Mental pause

As one ages the body loses its ability to mask off the formerly negative space
For the positive experience of our conscious experience
Menopause is the body letting more of the formerly unconscious processes
Surface
Your brain filters out most of what the body sees hears and feels
It has to
You can only handle a small fraction of the firehose of perceptual input
So your brain picks out the parts it hopes are relevant to continued survival
And filters out the rest. But as you age

It gets tired
More and more makes its way to the surface
Hot flashes triggered would normally be suppressed
Maybe a flush here and there
But not the whole furnace

Now
It sets off a whole cascade
Full body panic attack
Sweats that soak through
The brain and emotional body remain placid
Unperturbed
As the body cycles through
Temperature spikes
You move to cool down and
Temperature drops
Now
You're cold and a little damp and
Bundle up again
All this moisture
The only sign anything happened at all
Gone so quickly
The cats cuddle up and
Back to sleep
Under the surface
Of the blanket
Of consciousness
On my bed brain
This long cold night