Safe Distance explores a surreal phenomenon: the conscious or subconscious creation by an individual of a profound disconnect between the mind and the body. Some people who experience prolonged physical violence and abuse use this as a survival technique. I used the technique to survive a violent relationship. Living in my mind was the only way I could cope when everything about my physical existence hurt. Both the violence and the phenomenon have lasting effects, and survivors are often described as closed up, bristly, perpetually on edge. Those descriptors guided my construction of the book. A strap holds the book tightly closed and makes a ripping sound when opened; pointed sweet gum pods poke the hand slightly when the book is held; and the strap holds the book on edge when it is on display. The text for Safe Distance is a poem I wrote while experiencing the mind-body disconnect.