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This writing was accepted for publication in the 84 page perfect-bound issue of cc&d (v228) (the January 2012 Issue You can also order this 5.5" x 8.5" issue as an ISSN# paperback book:

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The Seven Deadly Colors: Black
from the series “The Seven Deadly Colors”;
a series of seven poems originally published in The Lamp-Post.

Bob Johnston

I am the leading authority on fossils of the Upper Jurassic,
author of twelve books and two hundred ten scientific papers.

As the invited lecturer at the annual meeting
of the American Geological Society, I was reporting
on my discovery of a previously unknown fossil, a new species
of trilobite that I have named, appropriately, after myself.

In the question period after the lecture, I modestly received
the kudos so generously bestowed by my peers.
But then that pipsqueak Manning, a johnny-come-lately
without tenure or reputation, had the audacity
to question my finding, to suggest that my fossil
came from deposits a mere million years old.

The blackness descended.

I endured his blithering sarcasm
and the questioning looks of my peers.
I defended my position with all the skill
and authority of my forty years in the profession,
and judging by the applause, I think I had convinced
everyone who was worth convincing.

Finally the session was over.
To show there were no hard feelings
I invited Manning to my room
for a drink and some friendly discussion.

I ended the discussion
with a knife between his ribs.

And it was good.

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