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Origin Story of the Nubians of the River Trail, By: Michael H. Brownstein

January 3, 2025 by Michael H. Brownstein

Origin Story of the Nubians of the River Trail, By: Michael H. Brownstein

When money was new
and Ray was young,
the world went crazy.

Everything we wanted to try
filled itself with glitter and crystal.
This became the way of soldiers.

Our people gathered food,
found a way to develop
and Ray grew into a warrior,
his mouth a wide cave,
his teeth sharp and careful.

We changed our money
to the currency of love,
created weapons with words,
Ray mated with Penny, a great mastiff,
and helped with her litter–
fourteen brindle puppies–
they grew into giants.

The soldiers joined us,
made up songs to new phrases,
threw their glitter and crystals
into our nearby river,
trained Ray, Penny and their dogs
until each dog understood our currency,
the strength of our language.

Our vocabulary prospered, we thrived
within their imagery, their inflection.
We became mighty warriors of dialect
and never needed to invent god.

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