Haikuing While Barbecuing

for T.J. and Carol

One leg hops, crickets in awe
you said, forking chicken on the grill
so its grease dribbled and hissed.

We held thighs and legs
to our mouths like barbaric harmonicas,
sucking their bright tones.

Gleaming in candlelight,
our chins went up and down, chairs
creaking beneath our budding weight.

Derek Sheffield teaches English at Wenatchee Valley College and serves as advisor for Mirror Northwest. His chapbook of poems, A Mouthpiece of Thumbs, appeared in 2000 from Blue Begonia Press. He won the James Hearst Poetry Award, judged by Li-Young Lee, and received a grant from Artist Trust. Every three months, he pays Supercuts twelve dollars for a super cut.