Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Burned Twice

Jack and Jill just happened to meet.
Jill noticed Jack's ears were both red.
Jack said they were burned from the heat
From ironing his shirt, and he said
While ironing, his cell phone did ring,
And startled him into a zone.
Multi tasking is not his thing.
He ironed the shirt with his cell phone.
It was like he was not awake.
What happened next is still not clear.
He answered the iron by mistake.
And, gee, that iron did burn his ear.

"What about your other ear, Jack?"
"Oh that, Jill. I got a call back."

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

STEM

STEM is Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math - once deemed
As for male only jobs to be,
Not for she American dreamed.
The U.S. is losing the game
Of STEM, due to the gender gap.
Macho playing by any name
Is scoring us a load of crap.
C'mon gals - push the guys aside,
By fair or foul, time to compete.
Show the whole world winning she pride.
Game on - give him the he defeat.

If the U.S. STEM is to grow,
You go girls for it - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Previously Used

A driver is driving the bus.
An old lady's sitting behind.
The driver doesn't make a fuss,
And think he's just being kind.
She offers him peanuts to eat.
What the heck. He munches them down.
Several times, she leaves her seat,
As the bus is driving through town,
Handfuls of peanuts to confer.
She says she has no teeth to chew.
"Why buy 'em?" the driver asks her,
Thinking she must have a loose screw.

The old lady was quick to note,
"I love to suck off the choc'late coat."

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Bee Muse

Hanging out with bee buds, I am
Caught by a bunch of humans to
Do some silly routine - oh damn.
What hoops humans put us bees through.
Fake flowers this time is the game,
Baited with some sweet nectar treat,
To check if bees do learn from same.
Bee see, bee do - the monkey beat.
Humans get a bee up the butt,
Studying us - don't know why tiz.
They are stuck in a meddling rut.
Why don't humans mind their own biz?

Bees like to humor humans, cuz
Humans give bees a giggle buzz.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Woman Will

It has been the man's world too long,
And now it is the woman's turn.
She can do right what he did wrong.
She has had centuries to learn.
It will take work to change the ways
That the man got the world stuck in,
With all the games that the man plays.
Change is no longer if but when.
And the sooner the better for
The chances for this Earth to last.
The woman will make future more
A work for good than was the past.

A woman's work is never done.
The woman's world has just begun.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Thump on You

Bill O'Reilly gets big bucks to
Bloviate on all left and right.
So re the gay marriage issue,
He "cautioned" that the antis might
Want to stop Bible thumping talk,
Cuz Bill believes the Bible is
On marriage just some poppycock,
And out of sync with current biz.
Conservies criticize his take.
Libbies love this family feud.
How dare balk at points he does make.
Bill is one disappointed dude.

Criticize the O'Reilly crap
And get "thumped" by his lips aflap.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Transparents

I was born, and the only child.
Mom and Dad took good care of me.
But when I was ten, life went wild,
Changed forever my family.
Mom and Dad started acting strange,
Lots of family counseling.
Then Mom and Dad began to change,
But love was still the constant thing.
Not many know what it's about -
Switching between husband and wife.
Therapists are helping us out.
Transgender is a fact of life.

So Dad is Mom and Mom is Dad.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

See into the Future

"Out of sight, out of mind," we've heard
As limitation on the brain.
If eyes see only dark or blurred,
There's no memory to retain.
But think of dreams by night or day,
Visuals where the eyes have not
Been how the brain has seen the way.
Here's where vision could see a lot.
Science will find the connect right,
So that the brain can tune in on,
And see the world by satellite.
The need for glasses will be gone.

All eyes one day will wonders do.
Programmed, all eyes will be on you.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Hank - LP Zoo

Hi, I'm Hank, the head chimpanzee,
Hanging out in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Watching folks watching mine and me.
We love watching what people do.
The green shirts and the white coat staff
Are teaching us economics.
They're cute and they do make us laugh,
With their carrot and grape antics.
And we teach the teachers as well,
A daily instructional class,
Hands on practicing where we dwell,
How to clean poop off window glass.

I'm gonna do a blog some day.
You'll be amazed at what I say.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Annette Funicello

Annette Funicello, you got
Discovered by Walt Disney, who
Liked your young wholesomeness a lot.
The Mickey Mouse Club - Walt picked you
To exemplify on T.V.
The best traits of the '50s kid,
Being of good morality,
With song and dance and smiles you did
Give baby boomers aired delight.
Such talent 'neath those Mickey ears
On the old Dumont black and white.
Ah yes, those were the wonder years.

Annette, we know that you do part,
Ever a Mouseketeer at heart.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Trying to Help

I am an operator for
Nine one one emergency calls.
A wife calls, all in an uproar.
She gasps that her husband, dead falls.
So I tell her to calm down first.
I will help her through this ordeal.
Don't just assume the very worst.
Take a moment to calmer feel,
And check once more when not so tense
As to whether he's dead or not.
She leaves the phone. There's a silence.
Then I hear a single gun shot.

I have a sense I will be vexed.
Back on the phone I hear, "What's next?"

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Jonathan Winters

Jonathan Winters, funny man,
Died 87 years of age.
Made us laugh over decades span,
Ever tops on the funny gauge.
On Mork and Mindy, he was Mearth.
Hatched from an egg that Mork had laid.
Baby born aged and with girth.
Tent size pampers had to be made.
He kept in stitches, cast and crew,
For the last season of that show.
And thanks to reruns 'twill be true
He'll live forever, doncha know!

Jonathan Winters, heaven bound,
An angel with giggles renowned.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Can You Tube Me Now?

Chicago wants wireless robust
On its subways to smoothly roll
All the social media lust.
How much will riders pay in toll?
Now big on the Chicago scene
Is "wilding" done by mobs of youth,
Twittered together to get mean.
Subways are targets - that's the truth.
The innocent rider now can
Be attacked but then be assured
That thanks to enhanced wireless span,
All details will be seen and heard.

Be part of a subway show,
Caught getting "wilded" - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Giraffing - LP Zoo

"Etana - whatcha looking at?"
"Sabrina - know what I like best,"
"Is watching all the humans that"
"Look straight ahead at our chest,"
"And then their little short necks stretch,"
"So they can look us in the eye,"
"Then their smart phones, they each do fetch."
"It makes them happy. I don't know why."
"As a giraffe - least I can do."
"Just love to watch human necks whirl"
"All around in the Lincoln Park Zoo."
"What's got your eye, Sabrina girl?"

"Etana, I am looking yon."
"We have to look up at Big John."

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Frodo

The world of Frodo, chimpanzee,
Was invaded by humankind,
Who wondered why Frodo could be
Of such mean and malicious mind.
An infant human he had snatched,
Her lifeless body later found
Partially eaten. Frodo scratched,
As humans made their screaming sound.
The grownup humans should have known
That just humans deserved the blame,
Intruding into Frodo's zone,
Where wild animals are not tame.

Frodo, chimpanzee, maybe thought
'Bout all the noise that humans brought.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank made known
The horrors of the Holocaust,
In which a teenager had grown,
Only to live a childhood lost.
A teen who had no chance to do
The day to day stuff filled with fun.
A teen who was forced to live through
The madness mad adults had done.
All teens today should keep in mind
That life is not just rock star show,
That there is more to humankind
That teens should seek and come to know.

We have Justin Bieber to thank
For young now asking, "Who's Anne Frank?"

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Jack and the Football

Cornhuskers college football game,
Fourth quarter and time almost out.
A 7 year old - Jack's his name,
Touchdowned the hearts of all - no doubt!
The why and how of Jack then there
Was for the what was good for Jack.
Handed the ball, he ran through air,
Sixty nine yards, not looking back.
Sixty thousand fans, none dry eyed,
Watched Jack score and a win, welcome.
And Jack won hearts of all worldwide.
And Jack's feelings -  "It was awesome."

Jack ran and scored, troubles behind,
His brain cancer not on his mind.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher and the press
Gave each other a lot of flack.
Journalists 'round her did possess
Lots of foreign made knic and knac -
Like tape recorders from Japan,
Italian suits and U.S. stuff.
She ordered a foreign made ban.
The Iron Lady could play rough.
"Buy British" was her hot campaign,
Till the press caught her on a trip.
Her fervor then began to wane,
As the press let a tidbit "slip."

To the Falklands, she did embark,
Her hair rollers made in Denmark.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Marriage Means...?

For centuries, marriage has been
Men and women tying the knot.
Same sex marriage - oh God, a sin!
Polygamy still has a slot.
In recent years, the U.S.A.
Has done a poll turn about face,
Approving marriage, gay to gay.
The Supreme Court is on the case.
If gay marriage gets the green light,
It won't take long for lawyers to
Chase potential couplings and fight
In courts for equal rights - tiz true!

Could a father marry his son,
If marriage not man and woman?

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Martha

In 1914, Martha died,
While in the Cincinnati Zoo.
One bird, but her death signified
As a species her kind was through.
Passenger pigeons once had flown,
Billions in flocks o'er time and place.
But as other species have known -
Humans ever a threat to face.
Extinction is too oft the fate.
Present tried to correct the past,
But conservation came too late,
And Martha was the very last.

Martha, now stuffed to look like live
In the Smithsonian archive.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, rest in peace, sir.
Through all your health battles, you gave
Movie reviewing class. You were
The film constant through pan or rave.
Human movie stars came and went,
But your movie stars of a rate
Very often did represent
Good or bad of a movie fate.
You said of death, you had no fear.
Content before your birth, and so
You expect death in the same sphere.
Hope there are movies where you go.

Thumbs up Roger Ebert. Thanks for
Your movie memories galore.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Rock - Paper - Scissors

Rock - paper - scissors, a hand game
To choose a winner of two folk.
Pick a gesture that wins - the aim.
Pick scissors and two fingers poke.
Pick paper and hold hand out flat.
Pick rock and keep hand in a fist.
Opponents do a countdown chat.
Then each display one pick - the gist.
Rock beats scissors, which it can break.
Scissors beat paper cuz can cut.
Paper beats rock (an iffy take) -
Can wrap around and keep it shut.

If a tie, then do it again.
One's gotta lose, one's gotta win.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Chesty

Chesty the thirteenth has retired
As the official mascot for
The U.S. Marines, and so hired -
Chesty the fourteenth for the Corps.
He's still a pup, just nine weeks old,
But from a champion family.
He'll learn to do what he is told,
And serve his nation doggedly.
An English Bulldog who was named
For a Marine from World War I.
General Fuller, who was famed
For getting win work of war done.

Chesty will be and bark the cry,
Always a Marine, Semper Fi.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

D.eport C.

People immigrate in a way,
Going to Washington, D.C.
Where the powers that be do play,
And there forever yearn to be.
So "immigration reform" is
Just another politics game,
That players pretend to do biz,
To stay in power as the aim.
Living in shadows is preferred
By the power players We send
To D.C. to dim in absurd
That they do care. They just pretend.

We the People do need resort
To un D.C.ing by deport.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Mindoro Croc

Mindoro crocodile, I am.
Live only in the Philippines,
Where most of my species have swam
Into human made bad death scenes.
But now we're protected by law,
Safe in marsh waters o'er and 'neath,
Which brings a wide grin to my jaw,
Letting bud birds pick in my teeth.
But still we're wary humanwise,
Though they can be handy, we note.
They are so easy to surprise.
Here come some tourists in a boat.

Ah - there's a snack for me no doubt.
I quickly head for a hand out.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Kid Stuff

We send the politicians to
Work together to get good done.
And all the politicians do
Is let their lips a whole bunch run,
Accusing that and blaming this,
And talking up a heap of crap,
And giving all of us the dis.
The politicians lips do flap
Nothing useful in just hot air.
C'mon - We gotta change this mess,
Before We all are on welfare.
And who do you think wants that? - Guess!

Politicians, all bad mouth chat -
We got kids at home to do that.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Penguins and Planes

Antarctic pilots tell of times
When things are slow, and so they'll find
A penguin colony in climes,
Thousands of them in groupings lined.
The plane will slowly fly on by.
In unison will turn the heads
Of all the penguins, eye by eye.
A huge black and white wave that spreads.
The plane flies out, then back it treks,
Right over the penguins in packs,
Watching with ever stretching necks,
Till all fall over on their backs.

For penguins, planes do have a way
Of perking up a penguin's day.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Plutonium

Pluto, the Roman god of hell,
The gate to which was said to be
The Plutonium where befell,
For smelling fumes, fatality.
A natural but lethal place,
Due to the gases in the ground.
Pilgrims journeyed to die in grace,
A quick and painless death be found.
Today, Plutonium is known
For nuclear bombs it makes real.
No single gate, but global zone,
A fiery death we all could feel.

Of Plutonium - be afraid.
Too soon 'twill bring the hell we made.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

"The Scream"

"The Scream," a work of art by Munch,
What was the model for the face?
Theories o'er time - there's been a bunch,
But still remain an unsolved case.
It is a strange and sexless thing.
Some say Munch used a mummy seen
In some museum, so to bring
It back to life on painted screen.
Some say Munch used a white chert rock,
Chipped black in places to reveal
"Burden that plagued" as Munch did talk,
And painted for us his ordeal.

A rock as model seems extreme.
I vote for mummy as "The Scream."

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Robo Ant

Humans have been watching how ants
Manage info with a small brain,
Simplifying all circumstance
Into the most efficient chain.
Not much to do, some humans built
Robot ants to crawl in a maze,
Alert in swarm in lit up quilt
How all should march in the same ways.
This test somehow is meant to show
Collective swarm intelligence
Is maybe how humans should go -
Time for Star Trek Borg to commence.

Future humans will get to live,
Only if we are productive.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Eats on the Hill

Congressperson Wasserman Schultz
Argues that Congress cannot work
Without getting fed as adults
A subsidized nutritious perk.
We the People must really thank
All congressional rank and file,
Sacrificing big bucks to bank,
To serve in such impoverished style.
So it's the least that We can do -
Keep the cafeteria cost
Subsidized so Congress can chew
The fat and not over exhaust.

So sad is Schultz, she so appeals
We should keep paying meals on deals.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Cougars be Wary

We, cougars, have found ways to stay
In and amongst where humans be,
Cuz humans have a nasty way
Of acting up so bizarrely.
They hunt us not for food to eat,
But of a mix of fear and fun,
Armed with an arrogant conceit,
With a camera or a gun.
We stalk by dark of night, new ground,
But always know we're not alone.
The human scent is all around
In this human made twilight zone.

We "ghost cats" more and more do jaunt
Into the world where humans haunt.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Enough with the Damn Crusades

Jess and Moe were in global sales,
Competing with each other to
Customerize males and females
For the biz their Boss was into.
The two had dif'rent sales technique.
Jess was pretty much easy go,
Pitching for a sale mild and meek,
But more of a hothead was Moe.
And so it came as no surprise,
Their clashing styles got in the way.
The Boss saw biz on the demise.
The Boss was upset and did say,

"You two best get along and sell,"
"Cuz my biz is going to hell."

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Gunners be Gone

Gun laws - Chicago's got a load,
And we're always whining for more.
But for years, statistics have showed
Law enforcement is very poor.
In fact Chicago is dead last
In putting and keeping away
The bad and mad that do gun blast,
Killing someone most ev'ry day.
The system needs to really deal
With gun crime as it really is.
The gangs and thugs and kooks are real.
The system needs to mind its biz.

Chicago doesn't need more laws.
We need to fix enforcement flaws.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Genesis Got Edited

Anti gay marriage say that God
Gave Eve to Adam for to wed.
Per Adam's notes, and this is odd,
Misreports of what Adam said.
God gave to Adam, Eve and Steve,
Experimenting with man's choice.
Adam wrote that God did believe
An either/or in divine voice.
Adam liked Eve, but as for love,
'Twas Steve his husband, without doubt.
Jealosy, Eve became full of,
Tricked Adam and all got kicked out.

After Eden, Steve went away.
What happened, Adam did not say.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Looks Like

"The Bible" miniseries tiz
On the History channel, and
Does a bit of devilish biz,
Showing Satan as darkly "tanned,"
Wearing a hoodie, but the face
As made up, so strongly appears -
This angel fallen from God's grace -
Prez Obama (without the ears).
Of course the producers deny,
And call such connection nonsense.
The look of evil in each eye
Is merely a coincidence.

Hollywood knows what looks like hell
Is making movies that don't sell.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Jesus the Prop

A college student refused to
Stomp on a written "Jesus" note,
But other class students did do
The assignment per textbook quote,
Rationalized as exercise
In putting symbols in context
Of emotion - no big surprise.
What will academics do next?
Probably not what Jesus taught.
Most academics seem intent
On justifying what they've got -
A superiority bent.

Jesus found truth and tried to teach.
Academics find lies to preach.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Pi

Pi is three point one four...ever,
The most famous number of all.
Its own day, March fourteenth - clever!
Archimedes made the math call -
The ratio of circumference
To a circle's diameter -
Called it pi - guess it then made sense,
But Greek to me, for sure, for sure!
Taken trillions of digits out,
Supercomputers seek the why
Of such constant unconstant doubt
Of ever irrational pi.

A poem for pi - a pi-em,
Tiz for no reason nor rhy-em.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Lake Michi - gone

Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes
Have ups and downs since glacier day.
But thanks to human made mistakes,
Lake Michigan will go away.
Fresh water will soon become rare.
Those with the power will seek to
Use up the Great Lakes and not care
What holes are left when they are through.
Water drained by technology,
Then across the world will be sold.
By human nature, this will be.
Fresh water will be the new gold.

The famous Chicago lake shore
Will soon touch a Great Lake no more.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Gustave Whitehead

Gustave Whitehead - a mystery.
Did he beat the Wright Brothers flight
By a two year "the first I be"?
According to papers, he might
Have flown a powered winged aircraft
Further and higher than Wrights did.
As some news, it was published aft.
Excitement did not pyramid,
As the case when the Wrights did fly
At Kittyhawk later to fame.
If Whitehead's first flight's not a lie,
Then he got cheated - that's a shame.

The Wright Brothers have come too far
For second now - thanks to PR.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Francois' Langur - LP Zoo

Francois' langur monkeys, we be
Named after some French diplomat
Who came to China just to see
Us close in native habitat.
Leaves are the fav food that we eat.
We live in groups led by females.
The males do duty, like guard beat
And the sex stuff (absent details).
Our coats are black, silky fur,
Sticking straight up on the head top.
White ear to cheek sideburns occur,
Never been to the barbershop.

Come see us at Lincoln Park Zoo.
You eyeball us, we'll eyeball you.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Paddlefish

Found in the mighty Mississipp,
American paddlefish, I,
Named for the snout above my lip,
Flat and long and can notify
Me by electroreceptor
When food I like is nearby, yes!
My tuned snout is also good for
Navigating, like GPS.
Fishy fisherfolk can't lure me,
Due to my filter fishing way.
But by their sneaky snaggery,
I must look out for their foul play.

Smug smugglers do smuggle my roe.
Those greedy humans - doncha know!