It’s Always Brussels Sprouts In The Cross Word. by James Walton

There was an ad for Kalettes

on the back of the receipt

after I refused the self-checkout

explaining to Cody the manager

that it was stealing jobs

he sort of nodded and walked away

as Emma sorted through

my carrot, potatoes, onion, and zucchini

apparently it’s a cross between kale

and brussel sprouts with a ‘nutty

slightly sweet flavour’

(probably genetic engineering residue)

but the ad was cut off there

like the Christmas I didn’t finish explaining

how the best way to eat kale

is to massage it with olive oil

and everyone couldn’t stop laughing

well I couldn’t see what was so funny

but I do know one thing

it’s always brussels sprouts in the crossie

James Walton is published in many newspapers, anthologies, and journals. He was a librarian. a farm labourer, a cattle breeder, and mostly a public sector union organizer.