Tight-fisted , they are hard
as knuckles and spoiling
for a fight
as they tumble like marbles
on to the floor , little green foot-
balls begging me
to sink the boot in ;
even under the knife
they are tough
as nails covering themselves
in layers like Chinese
boxes or onions ;
they leap around
in the saucepan like
boxers’ fists ;
ten minutes later
I swallow them ; anything
might happen
John Malone 
Good health will happen, that’s for sure. Not good taste though, for those of us who don’t like them …
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not to everyone’s liking I know 🙂
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Reblogged this on Mitch Teemley and commented:
My Featured Blogger this week is John Malone of the same-named blog site. John is a Brit (I think), but beyond that I know little, except what he reveals in his writing. Which I very much enjoy, and which is why he’s my Featured Blogger this week. John writes, by his own description, “cheeky, compassionate, quirky” poems and stories. And that’s pretty much spot-on (note the example below). After all, how many poems have you read about the abrasive personality traits of Brussels Sprouts?
Read and enjoy!
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I followed Mitch Teemley’s recommendation and have indeed started to read and enjoy.
Excellent stuff. Right up my street.
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thanks Mitch for giving this poem a new lease of life 🙂 I am actually compiling a book of poems on the topic ‘Green’ in which ‘Brussels Sprouts’ will feature
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Sounds like a love-hate relationship. Or is it grudging acceptance of the health benefits? But have you had Sprouts grilled on a BBQ. It’s a fairly popular restaurant appetizer over here. The external leaves, blacken and hang like cellophane. They crackle like it as well as you chew them. They taste is fantastic.
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I get something similar when I slather them with oil (olive or walnut) and roast them. Anything healthy that tastes good should be honored.
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Sounds good. How long & what temp. ? How about a little grated Parmigiana over the top along with the Oleo d’Oliva? 😉
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My time and temperature numbers may well need adjustment for other ovens and eating habits, but here is what I do. I program the oven to aim for 350ºF and run for 18 minutes, put the pan in, and press [Start]. No preheating! After the oven shuts off, I turn over each sprout (or sprout half, if I bought big ones) and let the pan sit in the oven for another 18 minutes. (It’s a well-insulated oven.) For immediate consumption, more time may be wanted. I undercook a little because I refrigerate a big batch and reheat portions later. Yes, cheese is good with the sprouts. Walnuts too. 🙂
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No, I haven’t but damn it all, I’m going to try with some eye fillet steak. thanks
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My favorite geen is that inside an avocado. In primary school the other kids would taunt me because I said Green is the best color, not RED.! I had no allies. Later, looking up a name for a pending blessed event I noticed my name Vernon meant “green” in Latin. Now in my seventies, I am an obsessive gardener. I live in a great place, Modesto, CA a Mediterranean climate in the Central Valley, at LAT 37.5º N. We have deciduous trees which turn beautifully in autumn but we also have tropicals who survive our winter: palms. banana, bird of paradise, philodendrons, lantana, creeping fig, hibiscus, ginger. coast redwoods. The variety around the neighborhood is fantastic.
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I love avocados. How amazing your name means ‘green’ but, of course, ‘vernal’ is an adjective associated with the greenness of Spring which we are moving into now. Beautiful and btw I love bananas 🙂
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Ah, you live in the antipodes. 🙂 We are waiting to begin catching the fragrance of burning firewood in the air in a few weeks. It’s amazin, just before I wrote that last comment my grown son and I (the one for whom I was searching for a name) were walking the dog and discussing colors, and I opined that the most beautiful purple is the Egg Plant (Aubergine) and the most beautiful green is the meat of the avocado. 🙂 BTW we already knew that a boy would be Joshua and we had discussed Chloe as a girl’s name. I got a chill when I looked up Chloe. The entry said, “Chloe, Greek, Green.”
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Wow. I never knew that. We had a Labrador called Chloe. This story gets weirder and weirder. And more interesting 🙂
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That last stanza is downright ominous . . . anything might happen.
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I’m gonna have to write more poems about veggies and fruits 🙂 or get featured on Mitch’s blog 🙂
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A perfect, luminous description of one of my least favorite veggies. Many thanks to Mitch for bringing you to my attention.
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What a fun take on brussels sprouts!
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Fabulous poem that Brussels sprouts deserve – I like ’em, but everything you said is true! I have a recipe with dried cranberries and bacon that even a BS-hater (my husband) will eat. 🙂
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I still like my brussels sprouts though I prefer broccoli from time to time 🙂
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