Sense Sonnet - Acher

Judy Garland

Born Frances Gumm, a star was born.
Judy Garland was still a teen
When pig tailed Dorothy did adorn
On The Wizard of Oz big screen.
She had it all - fortune and fame,
But lived in misery and fear.
Though she received world wide acclaim,
She sabotaged her own career.
Her fans did not love her enough.
Self pity was her only friend.
And into herself she did stuff
Down booze and drugs until her end.

Somewhere over the Rainbow, she
Found some peace of soul, hopefully.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Super Eye - LP Zoo

As a chameleon I eye
My world around me, yes I do.
Many deem me a super spy
Watching all at Lincoln Park Zoo.
A surveillance camera be
Each eye at ev'ry angle cast,
And moving independently,
Judging distance and focus fast.
I do see before I am seen.
All seeing eyes, mine do beguile
Whatever may come 'twist and 'tween,
If edible I see and smile.

Come visit the Lincoln Park Zoo.
I will keep an eye out for you.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Knock on Wood

A superstition folks oft do
To get good luck is knock on wood.
One theory says this is due to
Ancient cultures who understood
That spirits and gods did reside
In trees, and could be summoned by
A human knock which amplified
A plea for good luck to apply.
Both good and evil spirits were
Residing in the trees, and so
Human knockers could not be sure
Which way the knocked for luck would go.

Once I did knock on a dead tree.
I turned around, it fell on me!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

They Hide, I Seek - LP Zoo

A game of hide and seek it is.
An ornate box that's with holes, filled
Somewhere a treat and it's my biz
To find that treat, my senses skilled.
This lizard's tongue is long and fast,
And hole by hole darts in and out.
A game playing enthusiast,
My seeking will pay off, no doubt.
The keepers try hard, yes they do,
To keep me sharp in tongue and tail,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
I rate them a 10 on my scale.

To win this game of hide and seek,
I cannot keep my tongue in cheek.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Rock Talk - LP Zoo

This snow monkey mom holds a rock,
Using it as a teaching aid,
While giving her child a short talk
On how food to eat can be made.
Sometimes the food is inside of
Something real hard like a nut shell.
So simply hold the rock above
And hit that nut, success will tell
If the shell cracks open, and there
Be the nut all ready to eat.
Mom has many lesson to share
About the food acquiring feat.

Snow monkeys are learned sages
About the rock of all ages.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Spider Tortoise - LP Zoo

A spider tortoise and I do
Be found in Madagascar land,
Visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo
In the small reptile house firsthand.
The smallest of the tortoise kind,
About six inches long in size,
Can live seventy years - fact find.
I don't do too much exercise.
And why the spider in my name?
That comes from patterns on my shell,
Making a yellow web like frame,
An artsy place in which I dwell.

I'll know it's you when you come by.
I'll poke my head out and say "Hi."

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Vampira

Vampira was the hostess who
Began in 1954
As the first in T.V. to do
A horror flick intro before.
In tight black dress with pale white skin,
She'd glide on camera through fog,
With piercing scream a close up then,
Followed by mocking monologue.
Her sidekick - pet spider Rollo
Would crawl on her during her pitch.
Other horror hosts would follow,
But she was the first in this niche.

She lasted a year and a half,
"Show Cancelled" - the short epitaph.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Smashing Pumpkins '17 - LP Zoo

Life is good at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Look what the keepers left for me,
A pumpkin to see what I'll do.
This rhino reacts smashingly.
With just a touch of horn and head,
The pumpkin goes into splitsville.
Flat as a pancake it is spread,
And outward all its innards spill.
A pumpkin smoothie I have made,
And slurp it down in rhino style.
I like my pumpkins served pureed.
This gives this rhino pause to smile.

Smashing pumpkins is a cool thing.
While I'm smashing I do not sing.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Fate of the Santa Maria

Christmas Eve - fourteen ninety two,
Christopher Columbus did write
In his logbook of what he knew
Of the Santa Maria's plight.
In the Caribbean, home bound,
Calm was the weather and the sea.
Columbus and crew sleeping sound,
At the helm a cabin boy be.
Off Haiti, the ship hit a reef.
Damaged, the ship could sail no more.
Timbers dismantled in belief
Of building a shelter ashore.

A new wooden fortress became,
And called La Navidad by name.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Hay! Time to Eat! LP Zoo

Cow feeding time down on the Farm,
At the Farm in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Yes, the ladies put on the charm
Knowing that it is time to chew.
A human with handful of hay
Holds it out for the dairy cow,
Who's tongue does take the hay away
Into the mouth to chew the chow.
Hay is the feed for her to make
The milk that humans like to drink.
Just a few hours it does take
To complete the hay to milk link.

Come feed the cows and you can be
Helping the process udderly!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Goat on the Pumpkin - LP Zoo

Fall pumpkins are down on the Farm
In the Lincoln Park Zoo exact,
Adding some festive fun and charm.
Of course goats get in on the act.
A favorite for goats to do
Is turn the pumpkin inside out,
And then of course commence to chew.
Chewings' what life is all about.
Ah yes, it is a messy job.
A goat's the one to get it done,
Chewing up the pumpkin a gob.
Then swallow down - it's all in fun.

Nothing like pumpkin pizza pie,
To get this goat in chew tongue tie.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Nobel Tumor

Nikola Tesla, inventor,
Inventor, Thomas Edison,
Each invented marvels galore,
But a Nobel prize - neither won.
Rumor has it that both men were
Co-winners in 1915.
But animosity did stir,
With co-refusals 'twixt and 'tween.
The Physics Prize did go elsewhere.
The Nobel Foundation replied
'Twas just rumor of a co-share.
The truth was never verified.

The two inventors got much done,
But getting along was not one.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Leave it to Beaver Censored

1957 first aired
Leave it to Beaver T.V. show.
Mom June and Dad Ward parents paired
With sons Beav and Wally, big bro.
Controversy - first episode
'Bout a gator named Captain Jack.
The boys put Jack in the commode.
Network sensors launched an attack.
Can't show a toilet on T.V.
The viewing public would be crushed.
National scandal there would be.
The very thought had to be flushed.

But then a compromise got cleared.
Only the toilet tank appeared.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Reluctant - LP Zoo

Mom says that I've seen them before.
October time they show up here.
They're big and round and orange galore.
Mom says I have nothing to fear.
Mom grabs the thing to show me that
It will not cause me any harm,
Just put into the habitat
For a fall festive fun and charm.
But this gorilla girl wants to
Take some time and let this thing be
Left alone at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Better be safe than be sorry.

I'm holding onto Mom real tight.
That pumpkin is a scary sight.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Zoo Monitor - LP Zoo

This lion lyin' on the rock,
I do be monitored, I do,
Most of the day around the clock
By humans at Lincoln Park Zoo.
The Zoo Monitor program is
A ways and means of checking out
How I am conducting my biz -
Am I still or moving about?
Data about me is punched in
By humans into an iPad,
A scientific discipline
Charting my doings - good and bad.

It's all for checking my welfare,
And optimizing my best care.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Chicago Marathon '17 - LP Zoo

It's the Chicago Marathon.
Up high, I have a real good view,
Thanks to my neck phenomenon.
I'm watching from Lincoln Park Zoo.
I could probably win the race,
But giraffes aren't allowed to run.
Of course I'd run with lots of grace,
And take a quite deep bow when done.
But I'm content to just spectate,
And browse on tasty snacks on high,
Watching short humans ambulate,
Little legs moving on the fly.

Thousands of humans' racing knees,
Through the Windy City they breeze.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Beginning to End

Marilyn Monroe - first centerfold
Of the new Playboy magazine.
The nude picture, the tale was told,
Was young Monroe, fresh on the scene.
Five hundred bucks Hefner did pay
The nude calendar company.
Monroe, not paid, went on display
To become published history.
Hefner and Monroe never met.
He talked to her once on the phone.
An issue copy she did get,
But had to buy it on her own.

Next door crypts of the dead elite,
Monroe and Hefner at last meet.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Hand Carve - LP Zoo

October's here, so what to do
To turn the fall into fun fest,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Whatever - I will do with zest.
The keepers keep me in supply
Of pumpkins now grown fat and round.
Their color orange does catch my eye.
The possibilities abound.
Inside are pulp and seeds to eat.
To get there I must make a hole
In the orange rind and slurp the treat.
Do it artistic is my goal.

Carving pumpkins is fun indeed.
Gorilla hands are all I need.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Birth of the Microwave Oven

Percy Spencer's main claim to fame -
Invented a new oven known
As the microwave which became
A thing that now most households own.
One day in 1944,
Spencer at work at Raytheon,
In front of radar stood before
And noticed a phenomenon.
In his pocket a candy bar
Had melted due to microwave.
Raytheon deemed Spencer a star
And a good job promotion gave.

Raytheon got the patent, and
Spencer got a job well done hand.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza - Chicago

Uno Pizzeria and Grill,
Known for pizza, Chicago style.
A deep dish pizza made with skill
To make a pizza lover smile.
Started in 1943
By Ike Sewell and Ric Ricardo.
A high edged baking pan there be
With lots of cheese and tomato,
Requires a lower time to bake,
Topping assembled upside down,
So not to burn during the make
Into feast for Chicago town.

Today thanks to demand unfurled,
From Chicago to all the world.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Monna Vanna

The "Monna Vanna" sketch in nude
Is being studied by experts.
Quite possibly they might conclude
Done by da Vinci, who converts
The sketch into a later work,
The "Mona Lisa" to beguile.
There is a theory that does lurk -
The same model with the same smile,
And other similarities
Which may or may not be proved fact.
Of course the art world likes to tease
Da Vinci was in on this act.

If proved da Vinci, then who knows
Why the model put on some clothes?

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

One O'Clock Matinee - LP Zoo

It's one o'clock and time to go
To a daily set rendevous.
Both keeper and polar bear show
For Up-Close at Lincoln Park Zoo.
I am the polar bear - my task
Is to put my bod on display
In form as the keeper may ask,
A check up of my health that way.
How are my paws, how are my teeth?
How are my eyes, how are my ears?
I'm checked out above and beneath
During this daily scrutinize.

How do I know it's one o'clock?
I get a beep from my tick tock!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

First T.V. Commercial

The Bulova watch company
In July, 1941
Did the very first on T.V.
A "buy me" commercial was done.
The 48 state U.S. map
Splashed with a Bulova watch face,
The voice of an announcer chap
Said the slogan to make the case,
Pitching "America runs on"
"Bulova" to the audience,
Beginning the phenomenon
Viewers have had to endure since.

Cost Bulova four dollars to
Air the ad, seen by but a few.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Knights Templar

Knights Templar rose in the Crusades
To hold for Christ the Holy Land,
Receiving many accolades,
Amassing riches vast and grand.
But when the Holy Land was lost,
The Pope and royal powers that be
Used that excuse and doublecrossed,
Charging high sins of heresy.
The Knights Templar assets were seized
By Papal and royal orders fake.
Christian powers even more pleased
With Knights Templar burned at the stake.

Knights Templar, no longer welcome
In the circles of Christendom.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Out in the Backyard - LP Zoo

One Dad, three Moms, three daughters do
In the backyard a picnic all.
The time and place - Lincoln Park Zoo
On the sunny first day of fall.
The gorilla troop trooping out,
Sharing the best of picnic fare,
With fruits and veggies all about.
No need for any silverware.
Dad, Kwan, keeps ever watchful eye
On anything that might intrude
On him and his from ground or sky,
Cuz Kwan is an awesome Dad dude!

Outside or in this troop does be
About all in the family.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Twain Typo?

Mark Twain wrote in nineteen oh four
In his autobiography
That what thing had hurt his morals more?
A damn typewriter - that would be.
That machine made him want to swear,
As he typed "Tom Sawyer" on it.
In this assertion  - did Twain err?
Facts say "Tom Sawyer" was handwrit.
Now later manuscripts did go
To his publisher typed out nice,
And first typewritten book we know
Was from Mark Twain - that should suffice.

But his own typing did Twain do?
Or hand to a hired typist to?

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

World Rhino Day '17 - LP Zoo

World Rhino Day and lookie here,
A world pinata hangs for me.
I bet some goodies will appear,
As my chomping becomes worldly.
I know we all must do a part
Helping rhino conservation.
So I like to get a head start.
This rhino's work is never done.
I feel my prehensile lips smack.
I start with Africa to chew,
And make a hole to grab the snack.
Life is good at Lincoln Park Zoo.

For me snacking is a head trip.
I like to give a lot of lip.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Horned Lizard

The horned lizard has horns a head,
But don't do much to thwart attack.
Other defenses used instead -
Be still in camouflaging  knack,
Or puff the body to appear
Too large a prey to swallow whole.
A last resort in threat severe,
A message to the eyes - let's roll!
Then from the eyes' corners do squirt
A stream of blood up to five feet.
This puts predators on alert -
"Is this something I want to eat?"

Self defense the horned lizard's got.
Sometimes it works and sometimes not.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Blue Egg

Some fossilized eggs have been found,
Laid by ostrich like dinosaur,
Of a blue hue  that does astound
Dinosaur "egg"-sperts even more,
Who had assumed such eggs white were,
Considered such discussion done.
The "egg"-sperts were so very sure,
But a blue egg - such news does stun!
And now of course the hunt is on
For dino eggs of other hues,
Perhaps even to come upon
A speckled egg - that would be news!

Old colored eggs are dino-mite,
For dinosaurists - do "egg"-cite.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Winterize - LP Zoo

There's some winterizing to do,
So we African penguins spend
Time outside at Lincoln Park Zoo
Through winter's snowy cold and wind.
We've suggested to humans that
Some more heated rocks would be nice
That do surround the habitat.
We do not care for any ice.
So for a while all you will see
Are humans doing fix up stuff.
Behind the scenes we birds will be.
It won't take long, so just hang tough.

As humans work to winterize,
We penguins of course supervise.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Madiba and Mandela - LP Zoo

Madiba and Mandela be
South African penguins in love,
In Lincoln Park Zoo colony,
Kissing beaks in display of
Close encounters of a bird kind,
As the young pair build a love nest
In a nest box human designed
To optimize the love birds' quest.
The couple waddle to and fro,
Nesting materials abeak,
That keepers keep close by just so
The penguins don't have far to seek.

The nest box is in public view.
Come for a peek - woo in the Zoo.