Coitus Interruptus Poem by Dónall Dempsey

You were almost
undressed.

I had only taken off my shirt
when a leaf
floated through the window

& came to rest
on a chair.

It just sat there
looking at us
as if to say:

“Don’t mind me
I’ll just sit &
watch.”

“I always wondered what
humans got up to! ”

“I feel that leaf is
watching me! ”
you shiver.

And yes, I guess
in a way...it is.

“It’s like somebody’s spirit! ”

“Maybe they died in this very room! ”

You couldn’t shake the sense
of a perverted spirit being a peeping tom disguised as a leaf.

I laughed but
still ‘n’ all you made me put the dirty little leaf out in the hall.

I didn’t think it was a spirit
just... you know...a curious leaf.

Now, it will never know
what us humans get up to

in the privacy of our own hotel rooms.