In the Humus

Forty years after the cloud, Czech spruce still keep caesium in the top layer — humus, then root, then needle.

It circulates. Half-life thirty point two. Not washed through the stand. Retained between soil and what grows.

Two hundred fifty sites sample the slow stay. Fungi take the larger share; the fruiting body still names it.

Morning fourteen, mostly clear. Sunset cut to nineteen twelve. The forest holds yesterday's fall as weight you can still weigh.