The Five-Second Rule

My friends, are you cool with the five-second rule,
Where you eat what you drop on the floor
As long as you’re quick so it won’t make you sick?
Does your threshold take less time or more?

The earliest known variation is shown
In a legend about Genghis Khan,
Who let the food stay there as long as he’d say.
(If you take his advice, you’re far gone.)

A handful of scholars have spent research dollars
To test if the rule is OK.
They couldn’t agree, as the findings they’d see
Were quite mixed; we don’t know to this day.

The food that is wet is more likely to get
Some bacteria coming aboard.
A surface that’s had salmonella is bad;
It’s a risk that I couldn’t afford.

Yet most of the time, with no visible grime,
The five seconds spell minimal risk,
Especially while on a carpet, not tile.
If you’re feeling so lucky, be brisk!