When Instinct Awakes: After the Lights
poem by:
Joshua JayShades Legister
Written
on Dec 22, 2025
They said the procedure would help me see in the dark But darkness was never the problem It was the shape of the hand resting on my shoulder long after it stopped being kind Instinct returned quietly not as violence But as a refusal I noticed patterns the pauses the borrowed warmth Love, once examined under surgical light, revealed its fingerprints everywhere it had been rearranged When instinct awoke I did not grow teeth I grew distant
Tags: Deep, Abstract, Dark, Pain,
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Joshua JayShades Legister commented on Dec 22, 2025 at 10:51pm
This poem exists within a larger psychological work titled When Instinct Awakes.
The project unfolds across multiple forms poetry, short fiction, and visual pieces released separately rather than sequentially. Each piece is designed to stand on its own, while quietly contributing to a shared exploration of awareness, power, and relational control.
Nothing here is accidental.
Nothing is required to be read in order.
Some connections reveal themselves only when instinct catches up
