Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Mountain Yellow Legged Frog

I'm a Mountain Yellow Legged frog.
My home is in Indian Creek,
Brought by humans in travelogue
To try to beat odds - so to speak.
Trout likes to eat my kind, and so
Humans have kept the Creek troutless,
And stocked the yum bugs - doncha know!
To make my stay a test success.
Humans did stick upon my rear
A radio that will transmit
All of my movements loud and clear,
Even bowel - I'm such a wit!

If humans hear that I do croak,
Hope it's me with live sound - no joke!

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

No Adults

Little leaguers come to play ball,
Kids just wanting to have some fun.
Adults - why let them in at all?
Judging kid players one by one.
For each moment of kid glory,
More kids miss the ball or strike out.
Up in the stands, the adults be,
Forgetting what the game's about.
Adult rage rages more and more,
Messing with kids trying to play.
Adults think that the kids are for
Getting back dreams that got away.

While the kids are playing the game,
Adults are judging - praise and blame.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Eriskay Ponies to the Rescue

1941, World War II
The SS Politician sank,
Not from attack as foes might do,
But from the weight of booze not drank.
We Eriskay ponies were brought
To salvage the whiskey galore.
Thousands of the cases they sot
Of course it was all for the war.
Our island flowed with the stuff,
Hauled by us ponies from the sea.
The humans could not drink enough,
But that's just how the humans be.

Humans have some very pour taste,
Cannot let whisky go to waste.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

The Blame Bush Doctine

Obama promised the Bush whacks
On We the People would all cease.
But government snooping attacks
Are found to be on the increase.
Of course Obama knows nothing,
But will send his hunch folk to 'splain
How hard it is for the West Wing
To loose the grip of the Bush bane.
Cuz Bush entrenched so many sneaks
To carry on the nasty stuff.
There's no fix from Obama geeks.
There's only lots of huff and puff.

Unconstitutional assault,
George W - it's all your fault!

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Slugfestive

On Australia's Mount Kaputar,
A new slug species has been found,
Exciting sluggers near and far,
To venture to that lush wet ground.
The slugs favor life in a bed
Of tasty eucalyptus leaves.
But up a tree a slug will head
Leaving a slimy trail that weaves.
Pairs of feelers for smell and sight.
Hermaphroditic mollusc be,
Seeking out mister and miss right
To find a mate for he and she.

A slug that is a bright hot pink -
Not nature's a nod and a wink!

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

To Leak is Human

Whistleblowers in government
Are feared by the powers that be.
Most gov biz is not evident
In this so called land of the free.
Big Brother wants power to grow.
If just mum hi tech could be had,
So We the People'd never know
When D.C. would be being bad.
But humans still have to be used,
And humans tend to blab a lot,
When the Constitution's abused,
And powers' lies that be are caught.

Now when We hear the govvies speak,
It's oft more lies about more leak.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Cygnets - LP Zoo

Trumpeter swan cygnets did hatch,
Cherub chicks in the month of June,
Peering out from the nest of thatch,
"Let's take a dip in the lagoon."
With Mom and Dad watching us close,
We waddled in, feathers and all.
The crowds around, we did engross.
Humans are easy to enthrall.
We hear the humans whisper that
Into the the wild we're destined to.
Not sure 'xactly where wild is at,
But in the meantime, here will do.

Oh, what a blessed bevy we be
At Lincoln Park Zoo - y'all come see.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Abominable Frogman

Mom and Dad croaked to me about
The Abominable Frogman,
Coming at night to snatch me out,
Take me away for study plan.
And sure enough, one night he came,
Grabbed me with a flick of his wrist.
I knew life never'd be the same,
Too frog scared to get too frog pissed.
I was to be a sacrifice,
To cut me up and check my kind.
Humans do think it a small price,
One frog to pay and not to mind.

My frogly senses slowly fade,
Drowning away in marinade.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Game Change

The future of humanity
Determined by the U.S.A.?
By the U.S. powers that be
With all the games such powers play?
The rest of the world has too long
Been at the risk of D.C. ill -
The We are right and they are wrong.
Many others have had their fill.
China quite soon will be the one
To knock the U.S. off the throne.
No battled killings need be done.
Mass bankruptcy will set the tone.

Will China fix the global hot?
The game's the same, so prob'ly not.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Edith Bunker

Archie Bunker, hoarder of hate,
Got very lucky with his choice
Of Edith as his wedded mate.
Not prettiest in look or voice,
But inside she was lovliest
At turning bad stuff into good,
Bringing out in others their best,
Giving of love that humans should.
Show episodes over again,
Edith remembered as the one
Who brought and kept lots of love in
All in the Family rerun.

Edith Bunker will always be
The love of Archie on T.V.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Holder On

I'm Eric Holder - holder on
To Attorney General, cuz
Maybe Obama wants me gone,
But color matters - yes it does.
It matters more not that I lie,
But that I am a black elite.
I don't know much, but I know why
I get away with my deceit.
My people scare the libby type,
So if it seems I be abused
With this or that media hype,
My incompetence is excused.

Powers that be won't make me go.
That could look racist - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

"Girls" Pad

The T.V. houses that we see,
The outsides never seem to match
The insides - a perplexity.
Ah, plots that Hollywood does hatch.
The "Golden Girls" Miami home,
The "lanai" was a "don't fit" place.
To the garage, the Girls would roam
In the wrong directional space.
The kitchen, a hand me down set
looking at Chicago's skyline.
Vast living room, wicker beget,
Facing the viewer by design.

The outs and ins of T.V. land,
Just watch - no need to understand.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Storm Chaser

To storm chase - is it just for fun?
Or is it for some public good?
Whenever storm chasing is done,
Death might not be the end, but could.
There ought to be a law some say
To make storm chasing a set crime.
If caught there'd be a fine to pay.
Repeat offenders would do time.
The public good, the science stuff -
Let drones be sent in for that aim.
Dying is tragedy enough,
And worse when done in just a game.

To storm chase is to do but die.
To storm chase is to ask but why?

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Harbor Seal - LP Zoo

'Twas time to come to Chicago,
So this harbor seal hit the road,
Hitchhiked from Sea World, doncha know!
Blessings upon me were bestowed.
Nice folks gave me wetted down rides.
At last to my new home I got.
Folks can visit my many sides.
I get attention - tanks a lot.
For 20 plus minutes I can
Stay in an underwater place,
Looking for seafood in my scan,
To feed my so cute whiskered face.

I like Lincoln Park Zoo for real,
My flipper shake to seal the deal.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

On Ice

Ice is good for the polar bear,
A platform from which it can hunt.
Sea ice was and now is not there.
Greenhouse gases get the blame brunt.
Maybe humans could change their ways
Of burning fossil fuels a lot,
And make Earth go to cooler days.
Maybe humans can, maybe not.
The ice ages have come and gone,
So ice most likely will return,
For humans then to fret upon,
As more fossil fuels, humans burn.

When all Earth gets covered in ice,
Won't polar bears think that is nice!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Beckham Effect

Some say it is time to reflect
On David Beckham's self branding,
Which did cause the Beckham effect,
Deserving of understanding.
In soccer it's more sex that sells.
Game talent is not the real key.
It's working money magic spells,
And giving lots to charity.
Doing it all in novel way,
Showing off like a new tattoo,
To hear so many others say
"I wannabe a Beckham do."

The Effect's a revolving game,
Old playing rules with a new name.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Informed Citizen Disorder

It's said that good citizenship
Is knowing the important news,
A daily merry-go-round trip
That oft does color us with blues.
But news today is money biz,
Not once upon a time Cronkite
Closing "...and that's the way it is."
Today, the news is rarely right.
Yes, we should take it in, but think
Critically what's really true,
Effort that makes us sweat and stink.
Alter the mood - that's what to do!

Informed Citizen Disorder -
Try picking truth smorgasboarder.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Flower Power

A flower that is growing wild,
Must look and smell in such a way
That bugs like bees will be beguiled
To make a visit and to stay
Long enough at the nectar bar
To get a bunch of pollen stuck
On the bug's body to fly far
To more wild flowers, and by luck
To let Mom Nature do her thing,
Using the bugs as go between,
So baby wild flowers may spring,
Bringing beauty to all the scene.

To bee or not to be is fate
Of getting bugs to pollinate.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Star Wars Will

When humans leave this planet Earth,
And venture forth on a star trek,
Will war still be all that it's worth,
The way for humans' will to wreck?
War will never be left behind
As long as humans do exist.
Somehow humans do ever find
Some reason to make war persist.
War wages humans for the fight.
The Mission Continues for live.
It's they are wrong and We are right.
Humans are lost, war does survive.

The way of war will never cease.
Humans just have no will for peace.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Inca Tern - LP Zoo

An Inca tern is what I be.
South America's where I'm from.
My red feet and red beak get me
My fav food, anchovies - yum yum!
My feathered bod is a dark grey,
Except on each side of my beak,
Where tufts of white feathers allay,
Like a long moustache 'cross my cheek.
On rocky ocean cliffs, we bird
Are known to habitate, we do.
But Mom Nature called, and I heard
To live here at Lincoln Park Zoo.

A catlike mew, I never curse.
I'm an Inca tern for the verse.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Pikes Peak

For eons a great mountain peak,
When Zebulon Pike, winter time,
"Discovered" it first, so to speak,
In 1806. Why not climb
Fourteen thousand plus feet high.
Pike with his expedition did
Start climbing up and up - but why!
Not a very well thought out bid.
After two days of waist deep snow,
And of bellies empty of food,
Back down the mountain Pike did go,
Leaving his name and the peak screwed.

Pike did nothing for claim to fame.
Great mountain, mediocre name.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Asian Lady Beetle

The Asian lady beetle is
An example of human goof,
Messing with Mother Nature's biz.
Imported to U.S. for proof
That other pests could be controlled,
Not really knowing how or why.
Native insects, lo and behold,
Got spores from ladies and did die.
Now the ladies have set their sights
On making human pests' lives grim.
Invading homes in smelly blights,
Native bugs were just a prelim.

How to make ladies go away -
Something worse to think up and spray.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Memorial Day

We call it Memorial Day.
Living pay tribute to the dead,
Toward the end of each month of May,
At the gravesites, as life was shed
For love of American dream,
Of all who gave for us their all,
Fighting for freedom. Fate did deem
That for their service, they would fall.
Remember them, the who and why.
Carry them all in memory.
We too may be called on to die.
I'll remember you - will you, me?

Dead - the ultimate sacrifice.
For us, they paid the highest price.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bactrian Camel - LP Zoo

Bactrian camels, we come from
Bactria, once an ancient land
In rugged Asia, furred to numb
In the harsh winters to withstand.
But then each spring, the shaggy coat
Is shed extremely rapidly.
Huge clumps of hair peel off and float
Into the winds of destiny.
Any kind of plant we will eat,
Rechewing as cud to digest.
Even toed ungulate for feet.
Toes spread wide to walk on sand best.

Not just one hump, but we have two.
Hump happy at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Bat Chat

I got married and had no choice.
My mother-in-law lived with us.
So I got used to her shrill voice,
Aimed at me with a lot of cuss.
Familiar sound - it's studied that
We just ignore it after while.
So I just ignored the old bat.
One time she got in a woodpile.
She'd wedged herself in wood too tight.
I heard her call - what should I do?
I left her stuck there for the night.
"Didn't you hear me call to you?"

"Why yes, I heard that same bat yell -"
"Same sound as a bat out of hell."

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Imposed Rule Supreme (I.R.S.)

Loyal workers of I.R.S.
Ignore the current scandal crap.
Lefties and righties like to mess
With us at times, all lips aflap.
That's just to give the common folk
An occassional song and dance
About the I.R.S. The joke
Of pulling down Uncle Sam's pants.
The Prez, no matter party type,
Uses us as a means to an end.
Sometimes when caught there must by hype.
I.R.S. has no foe, no friend.

In the meantime, roll with the flow.
We rule forever - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Island Frog

An island frog, the humans say
How does such a residence be?
Salt water eats frog skin away.
No frog opts to go by sea.
The frog does call the island home,
And has done so millions of years.
Surrounding seas - no need to roam.
And of the first frog pioneers?
How did they make the trip across
The salty ocean to the isle?
Inquiring minds are at a loss
About this frog's island lifestyle.

Only the humans seem to care.
The frog just knows the frog is there.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

"I" Word

The term, "impeachment," - getting heard
About Obama more amd more.
A Prez' second term - that's the word
Tied to most Prezes come before.
Some scandal pops up in the news.
Then coverup goes into play.
Righties and lefties both abuse
The public in the fibbing way.
Time and energy go to waste,
While the scandal is picked apart,
Leaving a very nasty taste,
Chewing on D.C.'s "gotcha" art.

To be impeached or to be not.
50/50 odds Prez has got.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Maku - LP Zoo

A black rhino, Maku's the name.
Not really black, more reddish brown.
Endangered species - that's a shame.
But I'm safe in Chicago town.
I've been wooing Kapuki girl.
The humans keep checking her poop,
Hoping that this romantic whirl
Will bring a wee one to the Loop.
I'm used to humans all around.
They are a species I study.
Smart and dumb, both together wound,
But not endangered like I be.

Carry the hope is what I do,
Right here at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Kali

I was waiting for Mom to come,
When some strange creature came instead.
By instinct it was quite fearsome.
I found out later Mom was dead,
Killed by this creature called a man,
Who did not know I was alive,
When he shot Mom, as humans can.
He knew, alone I'd not survive.
And so he followed Mom's track back,
Found me and carried me away
To safety and a new life track
Where I get care and get to play.

This polar bear cub's come to know
Humans do behave weirdly so.