Sense Sonnet - Acher

 Last Dance

A renowned dancer of ballet,

We heard sad news concerning her.

Quite suddenly she'd passed away.

We were devastated for sure.

With her we'd been as she did climb

From novice to a dancing star.

So we decided one last time

To honor her, and so we are

Performing in the grand hall there

The steps of her ballet complete

For a packed audience, we pair

Of dancing shoes without her feet.

Standing ovation from the crowd,

We know she would have been so proud.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

 Unicornella's Costume

Unicornella, happy when

Told by Mommy and Daddy that

She could pick out her costume then.

So she first got a witch's hat,

Poked holes for her ears and her horn.

For orange and black colors a lot,

Chosen by the young unicorn,

Jack-o-lanterns and bats she got

That she could paste upon her fur,

Around her hooves and through her tail.

Added big bat wings to be sure

Her looking scary would not fail.

Unicornella's costume done,

She was dressed for Halloween fun.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

 Queen Zenobia

Zenobia, Palmyra's Queen,

Had dared to break from Roman rule.

Rome's armies marched to intervene.

The Queen came under ridicule

For going against the empire

Of Rome and so the city of

Palmyra was besieged in fire.

The Queen surrendered out of love

For her city, accepting fate

She knew her conquerors would give,

Bound in chains to humiliate,

Then sentenced to no longer live.

Of her city, the Queen's last look,

Then the axe fell and her head took.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

 Changed My Mind

I knew he had taken the train,

But another one would soon come.

On the platform waiting, the rain

Was drizzly and still falling some.

Back in the hotel the rain had

Helped me make the decision to

Follow after him, I was glad.

The more it rained the more I knew

That I'd been wrong and he'd been right,

That together we two should stay.

And together we'd be tonight,

After a very rainy day.

Heard the train whistle, lights in place,

No tears, just drizzle on my face.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

 Made Up My Mind

From the hotel window I could

See him crossing the street below.

No umbrella, rain soaked him good,

All wet, a fitting way to go.

If he had had his way I'd be

Going with him, but not my way.

And the last words to him from me

Was telling him go, but I'd stay.

To go with him I took a pass.

But was I making a mistake?

As raindrops hit the window glass,

The tears came as my heart did ache.

And then his taxi disappears,

All blurry through the rain and tears.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

 In Nature's Way

I knew that when it came at me,

I would not survive wrath it brought.

No friend, the fire an enemy,

Destruction of my kind it sought.

It was my nature to accept

The intense flames that did attack

From branch to branch in fury leapt,

Leaving me just a form charred black.

All life has left me all around,

And for a while I'll still remind

As dead wood in this ashen ground,

I won't be last here of my kind.

What's left of this tree stands until

I am renewed as nature will.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

 Cloak to Kill

Nessus, centaur, ferryman of

A river crossing first met her,

Deianeira, and fell in love,

And her abduction did occur.

Her lover, Hercules, found them,

Shot Nessus with a poisoned dart.

As Nessus died in pained mayhem,

Revenge he plotted to impart,

Convincing Deianeira to,

In his blood, soak her cloak and give

To Hercules, love token true,

And love from Hercules would live.

But with his last breath Nessus lied,

Hercules touched the cloak and died.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

 Mama's Wish

Mama Mouse walking through the wood,

Picks up a lamp on the pathway,

Giving the lamp a rubbing good.

Out pops a genie on display,

Telling Mama Mouse sorry but

There's only one wish to be had

Due to genie corporate cut,

Because the economy's bad. 

Mama Mouse thinks about her son,

Wishing him to be a success

In business, so can that be done?

The genie snaps his fingers, yes.

Mama Mouse gets her wished desire,

Son, Mickey Mouse, runs an empire.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

 Verse Versus Verse

The Taylor sisters, Ann and Jane,

Shared in common in place and time

Love for the poetry domain,

Both writing well in form and rhyme.

"The Violet," Jane wrote about

Growing modestly in the shade,

But content with its life no doubt,

A good impression on Jane made.

Ann wrote about "The Cow," indeed

With thanks for the milk she liked so,

And advising the cow to feed

Down where the violet did grow.

One day the violet was gone,

Because the cow did munch upon.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

 Mr. Yellow-headed Blackbird

A yellow-headed blackbird, I

Am in a take picture of pose.

On this human I keep an eye,

Until he's done and off he goes.

He's caught me standing in some grass,

Searching for seeds I like to munch.

I don't like too much time to pass

Without stopping to have some lunch.

I am a busy bird at best,

Mated now with eight females, and so

After lunch I'll stop at each nest

To tell each family, "Hello."

As far as feeding my offspring,

For each nest that's a Mom thing.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

 Start of My Story's End

At Lincoln Park Zoo I am here,

As over many years I've done.

It is my day to volunteer,

A time and place for so much fun,

As usual I'm early, so

I have the chance to walk around.

As by all habitats I go,

I have the feeling that I'm bound

To leave my animal friends for

A different chapter for me,

And so I try to connect more

With every animal I see.

Start of my story's end I do,

Grateful I'm at Lincoln Park Zoo.