Get Steady

Lyrics

[Intro]
Stephen, your words in that 2017 pocket guide,
they linger like the faint lavender in this beige room.
Here at the Trauma Recovery Center, Boston,
early morning light at 7:30 AM filters through.

[Verse 1]
I hold you, small river stone from the Charles,
smooth and cool against my palm,
you've been in my pocket since that session in 2019.
Bessel spoke of the body's score,
imprints from years ago, 1943 born wisdom.
You ground me, pulling roots from my feet
into the damp earth smell after Chicago rain.

[Chorus]
Get steady, little stone,
press against my skin, anchor the vagus hum.
Polyvagal dreams in this weighted blanket warmth,
68 degrees, chamomile steam rising.
No fight, just roots growing deep,
from actors' stages in the seventies to now.

[Verse 2]
Your surface, etched by waters since who knows when,
reminds me of Porges' dynamic states,
safety in the press of you.
I rub you slow, heart rate variability on that biofeedback screen,
blinking green in Seattle's late afternoon, 2021.
The knitted blanket drapes, soft anchor.

[Bridge]
What was missing, that unnamed woman's daisy petals,
counted in panic, 2015 workshop whispers.
You fill the gap, river stone,
strange fact of roots for stage fright,
now my calm in the fog.

[Verse 3]
Address you directly, my tool of resilience,
in this quiet room with the potted fern watching.
Trauma's imprint fades as I breathe with you,
sync to the therapist's rhythm,
echoing van der Kolk's truths.

[Chorus]
Get steady, little stone,
press against my skin, anchor the vagus hum.
Polyvagal dreams in this weighted blanket warmth,
68 degrees, chamomile steam rising.
No fight, just roots growing deep,
from actors' stages in the seventies to now.

[Outro]
And so we stabilize, you and I,
autonomic dance in the morning light.
Get steady, get steady.