Vibrant yellow back Defiant black streaks Deceptively cute
Solid almost artificial blue unlike the sky or ocean Speckled with the night Assuming an artificial rainbow
Small eyes that radiate innocence And an equally built body
Your diet is of alkaloids Psychotropic substances You use them to protect yourself Psychedelics have brought you questions you'd rather not answer
I've indulged in the natural poisons I can see beauty in harm, purpose, necessity But if I let you be, I know you're no danger to me Though, I'm a little too late
You're delicate and I am clumsy You've warned me not to get to close, I’m bound to get hurt I yield to what yearns to cradle your amphibious nature, so unique to a monochrome world
Physicality is your weapon An open wound lets your corrosive membrane transfuse my blood You flood me And oh, I moan. Action potential discharged, the sensory impulses to my brain. You stop feeling slippery in my hand as I begin to rust
Little one, you escape my hands But I am paralyzed
Thickened blood, what went so wrong Tender in touch, I didn't hurt you But your defensive, corrosive skin reflected your inner malintent
Black mamba venom indisputably pierces the skin Harsh betrayal of curious wonder Black widow toxin, an unblunted destruction of the dermis But you came in celebrated color
How am I to trust visual credibility of sinlessness You're a poison dart frog When the beauty that once enticed me Has hardened the sanguine essence that filled me with vitality and awe
'Besem el Badan' is an Arabic phrase that translates to "that which poisons the blood."