Nerves Just Wanna Be Calm

Lyrics

[Intro]
Stephen, your theory hums in me,
that polyvagal whisper from 2011,
holding this fork, cool metal in my palm.

[Verse 1]
It's 4:30 PM, late afternoon light slants through the window,
in this pale blue room on Elm Street,
where the armchair cradles my weight.
I strike the tuning fork against my knee,
that clear tone at 528 Hz,
filling the air like a promise.
Nerves, you just wanna be calm,
fluttering like moths in my chest.

[Chorus]
Oh, tuning fork, my faithful tool,
vibrate through my bones,
stimulate that vagus wanderer,
from brainstem to gut, easing the fight.
Nerves just wanna be calm,
let the parasympathetic take over,
in this dim space, lavender lingering.

[Verse 2]
Porges wrote it down, page 147,
in that Norton edition, dog-eared now.
The biofeedback device blinks green,
heart rate variability climbing slow,
from 45 to 62, numbers like lifelines.
I hum along, low and rhythmic,
feeling the chill of 68 degrees on my skin.

[Chorus]
Oh, tuning fork, my faithful tool,
vibrate through my bones,
stimulate that vagus wanderer,
from brainstem to gut, easing the fight.
Nerves just wanna be calm,
let the parasympathetic take over,
in this dim space, lavender lingering.

[Bridge]
Remember the subjects unnamed,
in those studies from Kinsey Institute days,
their breaths uncounted, stories untold.
But here, with you, fork in hand,
I rewrite the script, one vibration at a time.

[Verse 3]
Chamomile tea steams on the side table,
its herbal steam mixing with the fork's ring.
4:32 now, cortisol dipping low,
nerves settling like sediment in a jar.
You just wanna be calm, don't you?
In this physiological tug-of-war.

[Outro]
Stephen's conduit, mind to body,
humming us home.
Nerves, rest now.