Folly of the Faithful Canine

The north pole of Saturn is home to a roughly
Hexagonal cloud pattern wider than Earth.
The south pole does not have a polygon, only
A vortex of major but much lesser girth.

A steep latitudinal gradient found
In the speed of the winds in the atmosphere might
Account for the hexagon; similar shapes
Have been made in a circular tank (with delight).

Some researchers claim that such lab simulations
Show spiraling vortices not like the pole.
A slow, shallow jet stream that moves in the main clouds’
Direction can mimic their act on the whole.

So how has the hexagon lasted for decades?
The north polar vortex helps stabilize jets.
A storm ringed by winds on the opposite path
Can make regular shapes, Andrew Ingersoll bets.

It’s also worth noting the hexagon’s color
Has shifted to golden from blue in four years.
One theory: The pole is exposed to the sun
As the season has changed, so a haze then appears.

While quicksand has engulfed a lot of characters on screen,
This makes a rare example where reality’s less mean.
Not only is the real stuff not as quick as you might think;
It’s denser than your body, so you won’t have far to sink.
Your legs go down, but lungs ensure your torso stays afloat.
You’d best lean back to spread your weight all over like a boat.
Move back and forward slowly so the water rushes in
To fill the gaping cavity around a captured limb.
That said, without a tow truck, it should take you quite a while.
You could face dehydration by the time you leave the pile.
Depending on the region, you might drown within a tide.
But since that seldom happens, I would put the fear aside.

In early years, I learned that brown’s a color all its own,
Resulting when you mix the hues of yellow, blue, and red.
It’s only in adulthood that I’ve come across insistence
That brown is just a name for several orange shades instead.

It makes a certain kind of sense; the CMYK model
To print or paint in brown combines the orange stuff with black.
Though RGB makes use of red and green in right proportions,
The light’s distinctly yellow when the mix is out of whack.

The term is from Old English brún, which also links with burnish.
The first recorded use of brown was circa Y1K.
Back then, it could refer to any dark or dusky color,
And Middle English changed it to the meaning used today.