Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Oldie and Goodie - LP Zoo

I'm Papa, the geriatric
Black bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Out of humans, I get a kick
Of all the silly things they do.
I really don't watch humans much.
Most of the time they see my rear,
In my outside habitat hutch.
I like to do my napping here.
Now one thing humans do that does
Get me moving to check it out,
Is scattered high fiber grain, cuz
That means some honey too - no doubt!

There is a sign, "For Papa Bear."
I cannot read but treats' there.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Check Up - LP Zoo

Two red pandas - a girl and boy,
Newborn at the Lincoln Park Zoo,
Bringing the humans loads of joy.
We're doted on as humans do.
"Borrowing" us from Mom to check
To make sure our health is good.
It doesn't hurt, so what the heck!
Done for all the Zoo neighborhood.
The humans hold us in their hands,
Precaution gloves before they touch.
Then back to Mom - she understands.
There are some tickles - not too much.

We're learning quickly 'bout Zoo biz -
Humoring humans - just how tiz.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Meet and Eat - LP Zoo

Doing videos has caught on
With keepers at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Of course, lemurs are called upon,
Cuz of the cute stuff that we do.
No doubt the lemur family
Are fav'rites on the Zoo Facebook.
Mom and Dad and the kids do be
Grabbing humans to wanna look.
Lemurs need incentive to stay
Focused on camera a while.
Keepers understand the best way
To motivate lemurs to smile.

Lemurs aren't shy on video,
When there's food nearby - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

HillBillill and The Subpoena

"Bill - did you play your fav'rite game,"
"Counting during my interview"
"With CNN, the times to name"
"When I did lie as oft I do!"
"Shucks - the Benghazi committee"
"Did catch my subpoena white lie."
"It went in a big breath from me,"
"And I am really not sure why."
"For us, I have to lie so much."
"Sometimes whatever's in my head"
"Pops out - I hope with teflon touch,"
"And voters ignore what I said."

"I'm now too big to lie and fail.
As Prez I'll tell a real tall tale.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Super Tongue - LP Zoo

A chameleon learns quite young
That catching bugs and worms depends
On the quick draw of the long tongue.
Such means does justify the ends.
If I desire, I can project
Twice as far as my body long
My tongue to do its launch correct,
With snapping fast and snapping long.
At the Lincoln Park Zoo I get
Free room and board, and when I see
The keeper, then it's a safe bet
That there's some food in hand for me.

I heed one human quote, I do.
Do not bite the hand that feeds you.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Kianto - LP Zoo

Kianto, the jaguar, am I,
Big cat at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Safari Gift Shop is nearby.
A big stuffed tiger I can view.
The humans like to tug on her,
But very few willing to pay
Her high for sale price tag for sure.
So she's on indefinite stay.
I'm alone in my habitat,
No recommendation to breed.
So all I can do is stare at
The closest reminder indeed.

Yes, that stuffed tiger is for me,
The only girlfriend that will be.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Mama Knows Best - LP Zoo

"Papa, come and give me a hand,"
Mama says, holding baby near.
Papa of course does understand
He is expected to appear,
And take the baby for a bit,
While Mama does some Mama stuff.
So on Papa, baby does sit.
Kids' attention - never enough.
Big sister comes in for her share.
Too much for Papa, Mama knows.
Mama's the prime giver of care,
And back to Mama baby goes.

Just routine family to do -
Lemurs at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Red Pandorables - LP Zoo

Newborn at the Lincoln Park Zoo,
Chicago cubs - a be born first,
Red panda cubs and there are two.
Behind the scenes they both did burst
Into the nest that Mom had made,
Where she will tend to them for weeks,
Till blindness and deafness does fade.
But the public will get some peeks,
Thanks to a camera close by,
Watching the baby balls of fur
Get the best care from Mom's supply.
Red PandaMomium for sure.

In the meantime, Dad does his thing -
Celebrates with a bamboo fling.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Jumped the Shark

A human swimming just off shore,
Under a sudden attack came.
At human flesh the creature tore,
And at the human took sure aim.
The human became a death stat,
At the wrong time in the wrong place,
A target for a creature that
Can hit a human and erase.
The human suffered final fate.
Media stories rushed to hark.
In the water death did await.
What's more sea fatal than a shark?

Eight times more likely humans be
A jelly fish fatality.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Irony He Wrote

July 4th, the Declaration
Of Independence became fact,
Written by Thomas Jefferson,
Perhaps 'twas his most famous act.
July 4th, 50 years hence - fate
Chose that date - Jefferson to die
At Monticello, his estate.
He died quite deep in debt, and why?
Cuz he spent money lavishly,
And was not very skilled at biz.
He even tried a lottery,
But that and other schemes did fizz.

Jefferson's daughter had to sell
Monticello and slaves as well.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Crisis Solver

Trump trumpets out his plan to run
For Prez, to make the country great,
And do it as Republican.
With that hair - what a head of state!
Of course he bashes Mexico,
And most folks coming here from there.
He says a wall will stop the flow,
Would that a wall stopped his hot air.
T.V. networks did fire his rump,
Cancelling his prime T.V. shows.
What do do wannabe Prez Trump?
Off to lawyers The Donald goes.

A world crisis - oh what to do?
Prez The Donald would simply sue.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Male Female Snail

Nature makes snails hermaphrodite,
Meaning parts are male and female,
Tucked into one snail snug and tight,
So sex encounters be tell tale.
Two snails meet out in open air,
Complicated becomes the date.
Predators lurking ev'rywhere,
But time is taken how to mate.
First one is him, the other her.
If that match make does not work out,
Roles are reversed in hope to stir
A sex success to come about.

Two snails have sex - one he, one she,
Then do over - one she, one he.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Bird Debate

The bald eagle, I did become,
The year 1782,
The U.S. national emblem,
A big congressional to do.
But old Ben Franklin was not glad,
Said I was a lazy mean bird.
My moral character was bad.
For me Ben had not a nice word.
He thought the turkey was the pick,
An emblem for the brave and free.
The idea was deemed lunatic,
And Congress voted yes on me.

Glad I escaped the turkey fate.
On Thanksgiving I don't get ate.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Headless - LP Zoo

We ostriches are looking at
Humans at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Looking at them, we notice that
Their heads do disappear from view.
Their bodies are all shape and size,
And covered in atrocious wear.
But no heads, and so we surmise
That they must have stuck them somewhere.
Perhaps they're stuck in cyberspace,
To their devices eyed and eared.
They are but aren't in time and place.
We know that humans are quite weird.

We ostriches do understand
Humans bury heads in the sand.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

My Desert Nap

This sand cat loves the desert night,
Tiz my best hunting time and place.
My quarry rarely 'scapes my bite,
Once I have chosen to give chase.
Though water's scarce I need not much,
And tap most of it from my prey,
That feels the last from my sure touch,
Becoming my meal made my way,
Such as the rodent I just ate,
That thought was safely underground,
But only suffered the same fate
As all the rodents I have found.

Cloaked within the desert night wrap,
I pause for a brief sand cat nap.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Battle Flag

The Confederate battle flag
Was flown during the Civil War,
And lost with a heavy price tag,
And rejoined the U.S.  once more.
But the battle for civil rights
Kept that flag flying in protest
By not so civil racist whites,
Who thought secession was for best.
The centuries have come and gone.
Museums put past on display,
But past hatreds still battle on.
Racism just won't go away.

Racist flag flown in battles past,
That flag unflown, but battles last.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Madagascar Boa - LP Zoo

Madagascar boa I be.
See me at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Curled inside the trunk of a tree
Is my favorite point of view.
Lizards lounge to my left and right,
And humans wander by my front.
There's room service to my delight,
So I don't have to squeeze in hunt
Of prey, though I could still find it,
Cuz I am quite heat sensitive,
Thanks to each side of mouth, a pit
To find the prey then squeeze to give.

Come to the Zoo and visit please.
I promise you, I will not squeeze.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Leap Second

Tiz time to make another leap,
Another leap second of time.
"Experts" say that it's done to keep
Time pure without reason or rhyme.
Astronomical time from big
Versus atomic time from small
Gives "experts" excuse for the gig
Of wasting time 'splaining it all.
Most humans don't care about it,
Unless computer systems crash,
And human wallets take a hit.
All time comes down to costing cash.

Tiz time to take a second look
At time and money "experts" took.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Going Outdoors - LP Zoo

Four months old and now it is time
To check what's going on outdoors.
First I see lots of stuff to climb,
Something this youngster just adores.
Dad and Mom are coming with me,
And my two sisters come also.
So coming with my family
Makes me feel pumped up - doncha know!
I'm liking this stuff that's called grass,
And it's a warm and bright filled day.
I give the breeze a grab at pass,
Feels like a super place to play.

Here home at the Lincoln Park Zoo,
This gorilla girl  outdoors do.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Farm Leaguer  - LP Zoo

On the Farm in Lincoln Park Zoo,
This billy goat has got an itch
To do a baseball game, I do.
I'm thinking I've got a mean pitch.
My first choice would be the Cubs team.
There is that curse on Wrigley Field,
That a billy goat spoils the dream.
So the curse can only be healed
If a billy goat takes the mound,
Breaking the hundred year spell.
A world series win will be bound,
Friendly confines heaven from hell.

The day of Cubs' World Series win
Will be the day this goat pitched in.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

To Hate is Human

The only animals that hate
Are humans, and the question why -
Humans cannot answer to date.
We run in circles as we try.
Since Cain slew Abel by his hand,
And God chose not to intervene,
Humans have failed to understand
Why humans hate - what does it mean?
Tiz easier to hate than not,
So humans take the easy way.
Then afterwards when God is sought,
We ask for less hate when we pray.

Hate is unique to humankind,
By means of hand brought forth by mind.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Edmond

Eighteen hundred and forty one,
Edmond, a twelve year old boy slave,
Got vanilla plant beaning done,
And vanilla became a rave.
Edmond learned how to pollinate
The vanilla plant parts by hand,
Taught other slaves such consummate,
Vanilla sprouted o'er the land.
Edmond's owner did set him free
For all the riches he had brought
From the vanilla industry -
Riches that Edmond never got.

Edmond got nothing from rich yields,
Dying poor near vanilla fields.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Photo Op

An alligator, chilling out,
Saw this human come walking by.
A raccoon was also about.
The alligator, a fun guy,
Told the raccoon to jump upon
The alligator's back, to freak
Out the human and get it on.
The raccoon, leery, so to speak,
But the alligator assured
That any harm - there would be not,
Cuz all in fun would be procured
From the pix that the human got.

Weird combos on top and under -
Tiz fun making humans wonder.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Tech and Treat - LP Zoo

Snow monkeys at Lincoln Park Zoo
Do get the chance to go to school.
Some days I don't, some days I do.
I have no hard and fast set rule.
The habitat has got this space
Where I can go in through a door.
The hi tech humans built this place,
Cuz they love computers galore.
A touch screen's there for me to touch.
First a black dot to get the feel.
I hope there's more, cuz this aint't much.
Getting a treat's part of the deal.

This humoring humans is
Just part of being in show biz.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Oink Rally - LP Zoo

From the Farm in Lincoln Park Zoo,
We Mangalitsa piglets went
Early to get a real good view
Of the big Chicago event -
A parade to honor the team
That brought back hockey's Stanley Cup.
Blackhawks, normally a bad dream.
The bird could pick the piglet up.
But here the pig tale was real nice,
So we wanted to celebrate
The Chicago winners on ice.
So we went early and stayed late.

An oink oink here, an oink oink there,
"Go Hawks" be oinking through the air.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

The Donald Yuck

The Donald is running for Prez.
He can make money and so he can
Make America great he sez.
As great as Trump U that he ran?
Promised the American dream,
How to be an entrepreneur,
Really just a pyramid scheme
Built upon a pile of manure.
Thousands of suckers got sucked in.
Millions in profits Donald took
On promises of worthless spin,
All smoke and mirror by hook and crook.

As Prez what would The Donald do?
Turn a profit and go Trump U.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

N Out

Prez Obama used the n word
To make a point racism still
Is all around and is not cured,
Silencing one word of ill will.
Blacks claim the n word as their own,
And can be spoken or wrote among,
Since there is no racist tone
Coming from either pen or tongue.
But never use the word if white,
Cuz any use only offends.
Obama's just one half black - right?
So his n word use  needs amends.

If only one half black, one sure
Should just say nig or just say ger.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

AP Plug

The Associated Press is
Known to be a libbie outfit,
And loves to give the gotcha biz
To conservies hit bit by bit.
So picture Ted Cruz talking to
Pro gun righters at a gun range.
And so what does the AP do?
Gives the lib view of the exchange.
A picture of a gun does air
Right in front of Ted Cruz' forehead,
As though AP thinks it a shame
That conservie Cruz is not dead.

Biased Associated Press?
Gunning for conservies - oh yes!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Big Daddy - LP Zoo

Call me Kwan, call me a proud Dad.
Three daughters I am raising now.
Nearby there is a son I had,
Ten year Amare, take a bow.
The girls, Patty and Nayembi
Are giving Dad a lot of love.
In a few months both will be three.
And three month Bella is full of
Curiosity with new life.
I dote on being Dad, I do.
All the kids by a dif'rent wife,
Here home at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The best part of silverback biz -
Raising gorilla kids - yes tiz!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Flight and Bite - LP Zoo

A red capped cardinal am I,
Flying at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Tiz in the Bird House that I fly,
The free flight area I do.
Tiz a wide open sunny space.
Fourteen bird species fly with me.
So tiz a busy, noisy place.
The smallest bird there I do be.
A feeding time - two thirty tiz.
Visitors are welcome to come
And watch us do some chow down biz,
And hear us sing songs of yum yum.

Recently, Chicago do talk
About some bird called a Blackhawk!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Transplans

Born however the genes did fall,
For years I went through with the deal,
But was questioning, I recall,
The out of body I did feel.
But then the times did take a turn,
Evolving by powers that be.
I had a chance to yield my yearn,
To change outer to inner me.
A lot of money I did need,
So did pursue a life of crime,
Got caught, went to prison, indeed
Got changed for free while doing time.

Born being white, female, straight - hey
I did become a black, male gay.