PAD Day 6: An Anti-Ode to Brussels Sprouts

Today's dual prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a poem about a food (with that food as a poem's title), and (2) write a poem that goes out of your "comfort zone" regarding line breaks - make them longer or shorter than you usually do, break them in unconventional places, etc.  So here is my result. (I exaggerated my dislike of the food just a little here - I have been known to eat it on rare occasions.)

Brussels Sprouts

I blame the Belgians

                for you, atrocity

of the produce isle

                and grocer's freezer.

Insidious little cabbage buds,

                tight clumps of green,

bite-sized and potent,

                I will never invite you

for dinner. Even your friendship

                with bacon

will not woo me,

                and I care not whether

you are served steamed,

                roasted or raw.

You shall not pass

                my lips, no matter

how dressed.

                I'm not even a fan

of your larger cousins,

                except maybe as coleslaw.

So move on,

                and join the ranks

of peas, limas

                and asparagus

on my no-fly list               

                of vegetables.