Shining. Draped in purple. The fresh smell. It calls to me. Mortar and pestle. Grinding. Crushing. Destroying the beauty that once was. Beauty lost, never to be regained. A last chance to recover: Acetone. Bringing back what once was? Purple to brown. Beauty to hideousness. They say we have gained, but forget about what we have lost. The beautiful coat of His Purpleness. On the outside, a gleaming pharaoh. On the inside, a murderous thief. Alter egos are his undoing. – – – (Written during a Science Creative Literacy Symposia – more pieces can be viewed here)