Snakes That Befriend and Kill

This poet felt the need to write a poem about my so called "friends" who claimed to be nice, kind but turned out to be all fake, toxic. I call such peoples snakes who will hurt you while shaking your hand. I was inspired to write this after hearing my own unreleased song called "Toxic Traits". I also talked about this in my poetry series titled "Ashes of Us", which is about betrayal in friendship. In 2026, this poem was selected for "Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace" anthology by poetrysoup.com

death came from rattle snakes
build a fort just to dig his grave
air became thinner inside
with every single inhale
mesmerized by the good feeling
his obscured vision of love
couldn’t differ between words or places
memories that still haunt him at dawn

one common bite and 100 different faces
excruciating pain and smile on their faces
black dahlia flourished in my rose garden
my eyes rained, someone punctured the cloud
scandals that can ruin lives, lies that can take lives
a friend is not a friend of yours
beware of those snakes
who befriend you and kill your soul

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