Selenium
Janet Kuypers
from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series
6/3/12
I have wanted all of them dead.
There’s no one else I can say this to,
but I have had this overwhelming desire
for I don’t know how long
to see them all suffer exorbitant pain
as they all suffer to their last breath.
I’ve been researching ways
to extract my vengeance
and commit my final solution.
It has to be something scientific,
something methodical, something so
complicated and convoluted
that no one would ever suspect me.
There’s no way I can get used uranium rods
from the nuclear power plant
I saw on my last road trip.
There’s no way I’d get into Fermi Lab nearby,
where they discovered the radioactive plutonium
to get trace amounts of neptunium or plutonium,
because spent or not, trace amounts
of these radioactive elements could still be
injected into their food,
slipped into their hair spray,
shot into their shampoo,
and they’d never know what hit them.
So after I scoured the radioactive elements
in the periodic table
that are used in nuclear weaponry,
I glanced back toward the top of the table
and saw Selenium.
Wait a minute,
I remember an episode of CSI
where the actress who was a character on Melrose Place
and was one of the women in Desperate Housewives
conspired with anther woman,
where one of them would marry a rich man,
and would poison him with Selenium
until they died,
leaving the one with a hefty sum of money
to share with her female conspirator.
Okay, time for some research...
Selenium, when discovered, they noted
the similarity of Selenium to the previously-known
tellurium (named for the Earth), which is why
it was named from Greek mythology Selene,
an archaic lunar deity.
Although Selenium is used today
primarily in glassmaking and in pigments,
it is also a semiconductor, with
Selenium’s unusual ability to conducting electricity.
But the light went off when I read
that Selenium salts are toxic in large amounts, but
(here’s the key) trace amounts are necessary
in all animals... This reminded me
of that CSI episode, where that red-headed actress
worked with horses, which justified their need
for Selenium in their lives.
Because although Selenium is an essential trace element,
excess amounts can be toxic —
more than four hundred micrograms per day
can lead to selenosis.
Acute oral exposure to Selenium
can lead to pulmonary edema and lung lesions;
cardiovascular effects like tachycardia;
gastrointestinal effects like nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, and don’t forget
the severe abdominal pain...
Selenium ingestion can lead to cirrhosis of the liver
and will cause aches, irritability, chills, and tremors.
You know, this element is really starting to look
like the way to go for me.
Add it to their pizzas and garlic bread
(since it leaves a garlic odor on the breath),
and no one’s the wiser.
And the things is, Selenium
has an oxidant mode of action
similar to that of arsenic, which, as I said,
is exactly what I’m looking for.
Selenium poisoning of water systems
has occurred in the past, possibly resulting
whenever new agricultural runoff courses started,
so it could be easy in get it into their drinks as well.
So, now the question for me
is how to get it, to place it
into their food supply.
I know some is needed
for people who have a Selenium deficiency,
especially for patients with cancer or AIDS.
And if it is needed for animals
(I even read a case where animals were given
the wrong injection levels of Selenium,
causing mass horse deaths in a polo tournament),
a quick Google search
for purchasing Selenium
will lead to many sites
with “no prescription needed”
to get exactly what I’m looking for.
The last step is getting it
without having it trace back to my name,
because once I have it,
I can get it into their food and drink
with no problem.
Because as I said,
my overwhelming desire
for I don’t know how long
to see them all suffer exorbitant
and inextricable pain
as they all suffer to their last breath
may finally have that last key,
because Selenium can make
everything come together,
and no one will be the wiser.
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