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[ ], Not Creole, Not Jargon, Not Pidgin (poem)

By Carl Nyberg

In the military
The US military
We learn details
From the land
We occupy? Visit?
From the culture
From the language
And these details
Become part of
Our vocabulary
The metaphors
And vocabulary
Of a new lexicon
Mispronounced
Often misunderstood
But it works
To identify
Who is in the group
And who has seniority

—Carl Nyberg