You find me in your drink
your sustenance
and under your feet
the Death of Monarchs
and the Monarch of Deaths
From an Italian Iceman
to a French Emperor
and an Ambassador from a New World
I have traveled through the body of time with you
as you have used me to remove one another
from the veins of history
You papered your walls with Emerald and Paris
where I laid like a diseased tooth under an antique lace pillow
waiting for a dank fairy to change me to a dark seed
that blooms with the subtle scent that slips into you like a thin poisoned thorn
I've taken foolish fathers and idiot sons
vain daughters who wanted to be the shade of marble in Luna's smile
four drops and Caesars lay rotting with their laurels
and young Midases come early into gold with my white touch
Yet now the venom has become the physic
and I, by little, search out the tumors
that I, by large, can cause
It appears irony is immune to me
June 30, 2011
Tressa Lee Breen
My Notes & Resource Tools:
Gray, yellow, black, white
Name close to Greek "masculine", "potent"
Poison of Kings, King of Poisons
Bronze Age, included in bronze to make harder
Found in food, water soil, air (seafood predominant)
Victorian Era, eaten by women to improve complexion, as well as rubbed on faces/arms for paleness
Was used in wood treatment and pesticides due to its toxicity to insects, bacteria, fungi, banned in US in 2004
Chicken food - to promote growth
Arsenic compound act as stimulants, popular mid 18th century
Was uses as treatment for syphilis and trypanasomaisis until superseded by modern antibiotics
New research - cancer tumor location
Alloying w/ copper & lead, auto batteries, semiconductor material, integrated circuits
Paris or Emerald Green pigment, bullets, brass, optical glass (all discontinued)
Some species obtain energy via arsenic reduction
Possible substitute for phosphorus in DNA
Arsenic in ground/drinking water above standard, possible link to compromising immune systems to H1N1, cancers
Death by multi-system organ failure
Chronic arsenic poisoning treatment easily accomplished but long term effects of exposure can't be predicted
Orzi, Italian glacier, 5000 yrs, chronic arsenic poisoning most likely from smelting copper ores
Renaissance Italy, Age of Arsenic
2 Borgia, father/son, accidentally drunk own wine
17th century Rome, 4 drops
Study fo poisons advanced analytical chemistry
Napoleon green pigment on wallpaper
Clare Booth Luce, 50s, US to Italy Ambassador, ceiling chips in Ambassador residence (she recovered)
Gas from mold fo wallpaper paste and pigment
"Inheritance Powder"/white arsenic
Paris green/rat poison - same
Arsenic on Wikipedia
The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, And The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements by Sam Kean
Periodic Table: An Exploration Of The Elements by Joel Levy
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History Of The Elements From Arsenic To Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
The Elements: A Visual Exploration Of Every Known Atom In The Universe by Theodore Gray
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