In the Troposphere: A Meteorological Sonnet

This lowest level of the atmosphere

Is where they’ve set our tragicomedy.

Like tears and rain, production has an end,

Although romantic couplings all depend

On tearing up a sentimental eye,

Which in its observation sets a course

Charted neither by purpose nor by gear.

But bends . . . whatever it evolved to bend.

Attenuating gasses give off less heat,

And words are warming in the troposphere.

In want of fuel, a language can’t be beat!

Whether you speak Welsh or isiXhosa,

Too, makes no matter to the tropopause,

Which hangs above all wordiness down here.

Note: The transitional layer of the atmosphere between the stratosphere and the troposphere is called the tropopause. See https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/atmosphere/layers-of-atmosphere.

Thursday, September 17, 2026