#85

Namesaked

after the Greek word for unstable

[ASTATOS]

Astatine exists naturally-

a semi-metal,

reshaped from the decay

of uranium

and thorium.

She is borne of remains.

At her best, she has a half-life

of just 8.1 hours,

which means even if you did

happen to stumble upon some,

she would be of air

and nothing-

inevitably soon.

Following inevitable ruin,

she returns to isotopes

or polonium. A girl on the run.

This instability,

combined with her scarcity,

means that

at any one time,

there are less than 30 grams

living and dying in our Earth's crust.

Atomic number 85,

A solid apple in Mother’s eye-

but she is rarely home.

If she’s needed, she must be made.

And only 0.05 micrograms

of astatine

have been produced

to date.

No one's seen her primal bones,

a purely essential, elemental state-

because if you did have enough

to see her with your naked eye,

to sneak a precious peak-

she would have already been vaporized

by the heat

of her own

radioactivity.

However-

They think she’d be black like night.

I'd have to agree.