Sense Sonnet - Pumper

I Remember This - LP Zoo

Kind of remember this I do.
It comes each year and now I'm four.
Keepers here at Lincoln Park Zoo
Call it snow - outside spread galore.
The keeper brought inside a pile,
All slushy wet and cold and white.
I stood on top of it a while.
It fell apart - I thought it might.
I did a little dance on it,
And checked it out for taste and smell.
It did not last long once I hit.
Snow turns into water - oh well!

This gorilla girl surely knows
Soon after my birthday it snows.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Snow it All - LP Zoo

A rhino and a polar bear
In a Chicago neighborhood.
Both enjoying a snowfall - where?
Lincoln Park Zoo where life is good.
No matter what the weather be,
Real hot, real cold and 'twixt and 'tween.
Mother Nature provides for free
Something to check out on the scene.
Zoo visitors get to share in
The polar bear and rhino play,
Where each does go, where each has been.
Each having fun on this snow day.

Making snow angels in the snow.
Yes, tiz the season - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Blue Eyes

In summer gold, in winter blue,
The color of a reindeer's eyes
Changes in this seasonal hue
To make an altered light revise.
In winter, darkness does prevail
Across the vast arctic north pole.
So reindeer eyeballs do entail
Doing a cell compression role,
So as to reflect back less light,
Most effective with a blue shade,
Aiding the reindeer sight in night.
Quite an awesome visual aid!

Rudolph's red nose does light the way,
But his blue eyes do guide the sleigh.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Arapaima

An arapaima fish I be
In the river called Amazon.
Eight foot three hundred pounder - me,
Both gills and lung to breathe air on.
Highly endangered are my kind,
Cuz humans do fish and pollute.
We're out of sight, so out of mind.
Could be extinction - absolute.
Some humans cherish us and say
We are a symbol to protect
For the Amazon River way.
I hope these humans are correct.

My species are here, one and all,
Help in the conservation call.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Long Lived the Dictator

'Twas the Cuban Revolution,
Back in the '50's with Prez Ike.
The U.S thought he was the one,
Fidel Castro - one we would like.
But through the years and Presidents,
Anti U.S., Castro waged war -
The Communist cold war, and hence
He made the U.S. really sore.
How dare a dictator be so
Anti U.S. and so close by.
Twenty sixteen - Fidel did go,
An old still misbehaving guy.

A bearded thorn in U.S. side,
Fidel Castro at long last died.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bathochordaeus Charon

Bathochordaeus charon, I
Heard the strange creatures call me.
Named for some Greek ferryman - why?
Quite weird these creatures seem to be.
Tiz been a century or more
Since these strange creatures were last seen.
Up on the land they are galore.
Grabbed from my house made of protein,
They took me from the ocean deep,
My two inch body referred to
As a blob the creatures would keep,
Just because I exist - I do!

These creatures are called humans and
They - I will never understand.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Plant of Action - LP Zoo

Polar bear plunge - I love, I do.
My pool is not like arctic cold,
But comfy at Lincoln Park Zoo,
For me to be all rocked and rolled.
I found out that the in pool plants
Are fake, I guess so they can last,
As through them I do swim my dance.
If real, the plants would be gone fast,
Cuz through the waters I do cut
Like a big bull dozing machine.
I cannot help it - I'm a nut,
Showing off in my water scene.

Come and watch me through my window.
I am quite awesome - doncha know!

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Fell to Earth

November, nineteen fifty four
I fell into a strange new place,
Struck some lady and left her sore.
My outer hit her inner space.
She hoped to make money off me,
Tried to sell me for a high price.
Her fortune did not come to be.
She uttered words that were not nice.
A while later she gave me to
A museum for my display.
Time went by as the decades do.
I'm still here to this very day.

Yes, I am still alive all right.
Earthlings call me meteorite.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Out of Sync

We penguins at Lincoln Park Zoo
Are practicing water ballet.
But seems no matter what we do,
Tiz not in a synchronized way.
The younger penguins pay no heed
To older penguins' instruction.
Tiz doing one's own thing - indeed!
And the job's just not getting done.
We're s'posed to do a dance to show
Us like in a kaleidoscope.
And we keep trying - doncha know!
But have we yet succeeded - nope!

Doing a wonder water wet -
We penguins are just not there yet.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Shell Shock

The Mister and I were into
A moment of copulation.
What did the Mister go and do?
Did a premature cessation.
He has a tendency to fall
Off of me in his clumsy mount.
He cannot multitask at all.
His disappointments - I've lost count.
All was going along real well.
The Mister was on top of me.
I hear the cracking of his shell,
And laying on his back was he.

Mister Galapagos tortoise
Sure messed up the moment for us.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Sylvia

Somewhere off the Florida Keys
Lives a fish named Sylvia, who
Is just as friendly as you please,
And measures about six foot two.
Atlantic goliath grouper,
And named by Fabian Cousteau,
Who thought she was just so super
In curiosity she'd show
In humans being undersea,
Probably wondering what kind
Of fish these strange humans might be.
Strange - but Sylvia did not mind.

Most groupers are hermaphrodite,
But Sylvia still sounds all right.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Real Thanksgiving

U.S. Thanksgiving holiday,
Lincoln proclaimed in Civil War.
The Pilgrims' story on display
Was based on truth less, tall tale more.
A 'feast" took place during a fast,
When Native Americans came
To better assure that peace last,
Pilgrims played a food sharing game.
Thanksgiving was not motive prime.
The Native Americans were
Needed, and so to buy some time,
Pilgrims put on a show for sure.

Thanksgiving started from pretend.
Let real Thanksgiving never end.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Super Mom Lizard

A female lizard I do be,
A desert grassland whiptail one.
There's something special about me.
Cuz I do  sole reproduction.
Don't need a male to fertilize
Eggs - I'm parthenogenetic,
With twice the chromosomes - surprise!
I'm awesome maternalistic,
With offspring to rival those who
Do sexually reproduce -
Genetic diversity coup,
With no male to have to seduce.

Called heterozygosity -
A super she lizard I be.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bombadier Beetle

A bombadier beetle I be,
Named for a handy bomb I make.
When a predator hits on me,
I do bomb for my safety sake.
Hydrogen and sulfur I store
In separate gland compartments.
When a predator seeks to score,
A combo mixture I commence.
I am no chemist, I confess,
But I can make the bomb real fast.
Hydrosulfuric acid - yes!
The predator soon is aghast.

Predator's mouth - I am the prey.
I do my thing and bombs away.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Castro & Cream

Ice cream was a favorite treat
Of the Cuban Fidel Castro.
Gobs of it daily he would eat,
Something enemies came to know.
A poison pill was stuck inside
Some ice cream served to Castro with
The wished result that Castro died.
What happened next be fact or myth?
Castro did gulp the ice cream down,
And lived long after eating more,
Causing his enemies to frown.
Killing Castro would be a chore.

Assassination by ice cream -
One attempted C.I.A. scheme.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Thanksgiving Day for the Troop - LP Zoo

Together on Thanksgiving Day
The old, the young - we all join in
To celebrate in custom way.
Let the festivities begin.
We like to enjoy the fresh air
Of a Chicago November.
All the good times that we do share,
All memories to remember.
We eat and laugh and dance and sing.
We take some time to just relax,
A sense of belonging to bring.
We are so thankful to the max.

Snow monkey troop - Lincoln Park Zoo.
Good thanksgiving from us to you.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Alien Intelligence?

We have received some evidence
That maybe we are not alone,
That there is life in some presence
Somewhere in the outer space zone.
Transmissions from a world appeared
That do not seem to pose a threat,
But do translate as very weird.
Tiz a thing called the Internet.
Comedy seems to be a quirk,
Such as the joke that did appear -
How many ears has Captain Kirk?
Three - right, left and final front ear!

Hard to say if there's any worth
Checking out this planet called Earth

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Good Neighbors - LP Zoo

The penguins and the polar bear,
Next door neighbors in time and place,
But not in the wild anywhere.
We do not share the arctic space,
Where only polar bears be found.
But as ambassadors we do
Come together on common ground,
All sharing the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Of course face to face we don't meet.
The polar bear would find it good
To grab a penguin and to eat.
That would disrupt the neighborhood.

So when you visit, do come forth,
Penguins south and polar bear north.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bacteriophage

Bacteriophages could be
The savior of the human race,
Organisms we cannot see,
Bacteria - they do give chase.
The phage injects its DNA,
And replicates, killing the host.
Bacteria, the experts say,
Are what threaten the humans the most.
Antibiotics, human made,
Are losing the super bug war.
Phages could be the saving aid
For bad bugs less and good bugs more.

Send in sniper phages to do
The job we humans aren't up to.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Monitor Me - LP Zoo

A black tree monitor I be
Monitoring Lincoln Park Zoo.
I'm in the lizard family,
A tree climber - that's what I do.
The Small Reptile House - I hang out
Watching the humans strolling by.
Sometimes I'm hard to find, no doubt,
Blending into the wood - that's why!
Look close below, look close above,
Becuz 'twill be well worth your while
To visit and be in awe of
This so remarkable reptile.

I greet all - the old and the young.
"Hi" is on the tip of my tongue.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Day of the Dance - LP Zoo

A new day at Lincoln Park Zoo.
I rove around my habitat.
What should this polar bear next do?
I uproot a plant - well that's that!
Next I do a dip in the pool,
Of course taking the plant with me.
Me and the plant, we're looking cool -
Humans wowed as humans can be.
A floating ball gets in my way.
I take time to give a check,
But then go back to my first play.
I came with the plant - what the heck!

There's no doubt that me and the plant's
Doing an awesome water dance.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Siku on Ice - LP Zoo

I am Siku and hear me roar
My debut at Lincoln Park Zoo.
A polar bear ambassador
To help do what we need to do.
Mid November, twenty sixteen,
Seventy degrees - Chicago.
Such warming on the arctic scene
Is bad for my kind - doncha know!
So I am here to remind all
We need much less of more hot air,
Less fossil fuel burn - heed the call,
Or arctic ice will not be there.

The arctic ice - polar bears need.
Together we can help - indeed!

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Go with the Flow

A Miami parking garage,
No idea how I landed there.
Between two parked cars I did lodge.
Not good for me in open air.
A good samaritan comes by,
And this stranger did rescue me.
Me there - neither of us knew why.
A while later I was set free.
A great big moon was evident,
Then nature let me understand.
Back into the ocean I went,
Ending my adventure on land.

The super moon did pull the tide,
And gave this octopus some ride.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Splish Splash - LP Zoo

Splish splash at the Lincoln Park Zoo,
Long about any day and night.
Rock n' roll polar bear, Siku,
Jump on in cuz the water's right.
Bobby Darin don't sing like me,
Cuz I do sing in rhythm roar,
To reach all ears around that be.
Humans keep coming back for more.
In wet tub rub a dub I sing,
And spray the water through the air.
Yes, tiz one of my fav'rite thing.
The bigger crowd, the more I share.

Splish splash I was takin' a bath,
Gettin' on down this Siku path.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Dip Decision - LP Zoo

We penguins at Lincoln Park Zoo
Get fish fed from the keeper's hand.
So going fishing we don't do.
Swimming's an option - understand!
In the wild, penguins have to swim,
If penguins want some fish to eat.
Catching no fish is very grim,
So swimming is a must do feat.
But here, ambassadors we be.
The humans take good care of us.
Room service is provided free,
The swimming pool an added plus.

On land we all just ate some fish.
Tiz optional to splash and splish.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Champ Choice - LP Zoo

The World Series is 'twixt and 'tween
The Chicago Cubs - yes tiz true,
And the Cleveland Indians seen
Either/or at Lincoln Park Zoo.
The red panda family is
Given responsibility
For picking the winner - gee whiz!
So which team is it gonna be?
The red pandas have two cubs, so
The Cubs team the red pandas pick.
Gotta go Cubs time - doncha know,
But will the red panda choice stick?

It went right down to the last game.
Cubs win! Thanks to red panda aim.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Feral Cat

A feral cat, humans call me.
I look quite tame but am quite wild.
Anti human, I choose to be.
A free spirit, I am life styled.
I am a predator of skill.
Small mammals, fish and birds beware.
They just exist for me to kill,
And quickly eat - I like meat rare.
My kind and humans do strike deals.
In ships and barns we often do
A trade of rodents less - more meals,
A feral trade for us - thank you.

I may be in your city soon.
Rats are beginning to balloon.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Super Moon

The super moon - twenty sixteen,
Biggest, closest since '48.
Now what does a super moon mean?
Tiz a full moon that's in the state
Of being closest to Earth in
The egg shaped orbit of the moon.
And when will such happen again?
Is twenty fifty two too soon!
Mark calendars as a to do.
This super moon is just two days.
Hopefully 'twill be a good view.
Of course the clouds do have their ways.

A super moon does mean, no doubt,
The super crazies will be out.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Siku Arrives - LP Zoo

Howdy humans, I am Siku.
I just arrived from Louisville
To new digs at Lincoln Park Zoo.
We're gonna have a blast, we will!
You've been without a polar bear,
While building this new habitat.
But now I'm here and I do care
To have good times and chew the fat.
There's lots of plants around the place.
A white paws's good as a green thumb.
I'm rearranging as I pace,
So stop on by - you're all welcome.

You are polar bearless no more,
Cuz now you have got me galore.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Bear Down - LP Zoo

Election two thousand sixteen,
The day after - results are in.
An upset that's never been seen.
Donald J. Trump does have the win.
This bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Is kind of amused by it all.
More voted red than voted blue,
Sending stock markets in a fall,
Not liking the uncertainty
That a Prez The Donald may bring,
As in a few months there will be
A big Trump sign on the West Wing.

It look as though, at least today,
A bear market is on its way.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Stud Duck - LP Zoo

A male Mandarin duck I be
Eye candy at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Come to the Bird House and see me
Do the color show that I do.
A fashion statement I do make,
Brilliantly hued from head to tail,
And not a single feather fake.
I look my best for a female.
Dark purple chest and bright red bill,
Checks of a golden feathered beard,
Splashes of bright blues and greens will
Give me an iridescence tiered.

Extravaganza tints unfold.
Color me a sight to behold.