Undone - The Tether Song

Lyrics

[Intro]
Stephen, in that beige lab, 1994, you found the tether.
Vagus, my wandering nerve, hold me.

[Verse 1]
It's late evening, 9 PM, desk lamp dims on EEG printouts.
Your hands, Stephen W. Porges, born 1945, calibrating the biofeedback machine.
The vagus nerve, this conduit, tethers mind to body.
I feel it now, cool electrode on my skin, 68 degrees in the room.
Antiseptic tang, old paper from journals, dog-eared pages on attachment.
You said, the vagus is our mind-body connection, influencing reactions.

[Chorus]
Oh tether, undone, pulling me from threat to safety.
Vagus, whisper like a lullaby to your children, 2017 interview.
Stimulate me, induce calm, in this infinite loop of regulation.
Hold the heart rate, variability shifting, like that unnamed woman's data.

[Verse 2]
Half-eaten granola bar on the lab table, thermos of black coffee.
Small model of the brainstem, fingers tracing the polyvagal paths.
From fight to freeze, to social engagement, your theory unfolds.
I address you, vagus, my loved one, in this quiet clinical space.
Cluttered desk, stack of research, W.W. Norton book open to page 137.
The strange fact: melodies stimulating nerves, humming breaks in research.

[Bridge]
Missing stories, anonymized patients, survivors reduced to graphs.
Their emotional tether, undone, yet recovering in the deep.
Stephen, your quote echoes: conduit for emotions, attachment.

[Chorus]
Oh tether, undone, pulling me from threat to safety.
Vagus, whisper like a lullaby to your children, 2017 interview.
Stimulate me, induce calm, in this infinite loop of regulation.
Hold the heart rate, variability shifting, like that unnamed woman's data.

[Outro]
And in the chill, 68 degrees, the tether holds.
Stephen, we survive, polyvagal dreams undone.