Intrusion

After I had cut off my hands   
and grown new ones

something my former hands had longed for   
came and asked to be rocked.

After my plucked out eyes
had withered, and new ones grown

something my former eyes had wept for   
came asking to be pitied.

Copyright Credit: Denise Levertov, “Intrusion” from Poems 1968-1972. Copyright © 1972 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation, www.wwnorton.com/nd/welcome.htm.
Source: Poems 1968-1972 (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1972)