Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Better She than He

I be a tadpole frog I be
Looking about my world anew,
In a polluted pond I see.
So what does this tadpole frog do?
I decide that a change I need.
Right then and there I do decide -
Go from male to female indeed.
Somehow the change just gets applied.
Instinct does tell me that I will
Be better off as a female
When awful pollutants do fill
My habitat on a large scale.

The girls seem to do better by
Dirty water - I don't know why.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Fur Sure - LP Zoo

This naked mole rat has some fur,
So not completely naked, true.
Some hairs here and there occur
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Most of my fur is found to be
On the top of my head and back.
The underneath of my body
Shows my pink skin where hairs do lack.
In the wild my kind are down deep
In burrows in dark underground,
And humans rarely do get a peep
Cuz we are not easily found.

But here I come into the light
And do show off an awesome sight.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Out of My Element

I was just taking a nice stroll
In the snow and discovered that
I had stepped in an unseen hole,
And slid into a habitat
Of some strangers I did not know.
They said it was a window well.
Into their basement I did go.
They seemed quite harmless I could tell.
The strangers helped me back outside,
And bid me farewell on my way,
Which I did do in a quick stride.
It had been quite a stressful day.

I'm glad the strangers let me loose.
A house is no place for this moose.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Neighborhood Watch - LP Zoo

This Henkel's leaf tailed gecko is
Watching the human workers do
Habitat renovation biz
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
From my habitat I can see
The work progress across the way.
The humans can be quite noisy.
Quiet humans rarely display.
Hopefully soon it will be good,
And the renovating will cease,
Back to a quiet neighborhood,
And I can get some calm and peace.

Neighborhood watch for this gecko,
Watching the humans come and go.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Cricket Guard

Around the world the cricket be
In the home quite a good luck charm,
Chirping and singing happily,
And if silent be an alarm
That something in the home be wrong.
Perhaps an intruder be there.
When all be right, again the song
From the cricket does fill the air.
The cricket makes its chirp of cheer
Not from the mouth but from the wing.
Wings rubbed together and ears hear
The song that the cricket does sing.

If happy and wondering why,
Perhaps a cricket sings nearby.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Scheme for My Children

My children mean the world to me,
And as they're nearing college age,
I fret they're not going to be
Right school accepted by my gauge.
Thankfully I have money to
Buy the ways and means to succeed
In getting the right school to do
My childrens' acceptance indeed.
I do what any parent would
To give my children all the best.
My children could not, so I could
Do whatever to pass the test.

My children do not make the grade,
So I will cheat to give them aid.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

The Mona Lisa Smile

Leonardo da Vinci made
The most famous smile in the world
In the "Mona Lisa" in shade.
The smile seems to be upward curled.
But look at the smile directly.
The corners of the lips turn down
As though "Mona Lisa" could be
Really in the midst of a frown.
And so perhaps this famous smile
Is really not a smile at all,
But nonetheless it does beguile,
And smiling is the favored call.

A smile or not, who knows, oh well,
The "Mona Lisa" lips don't tell.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Blood Sweat - LP Zoo

This pygmy hippo often hears
I'm "sweating blood" which is not true,
When a reddish substance appears
On me here at Lincoln Park Zoo.
It's really neither blood nor sweat,
But is a gland made fluid that
I secrete so my skin can get
Moisturized in my habitat,
Protecting me from drying out
From all the air stuff around me,
And also waterproofs, no doubt,
My skin when in water I be.

A hippo secrete secret, so
I won't say more of what I know.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Bayer Beware

From poppy plants came opium,
From opium then came morphine,
For pain relief both were welcome.
But too much addiction was seen.
So the Bayer Drug company
In 1898 did use
A morphine derived drug to be
A pain reliever to enthuse.
A miracle drug Bayer claimed,
To be used for pain relief,
With no addiction to be blamed.
At least that was Bayer's belief.

Heroic feelings felt therein,
Bayer named the drug heroin.

Sense Sonnet - Tickler

Bear Aware

While on a walk I met a bear.
We were maybe ten yards apart.
At each other we two did stare.
I was not sure that this was smart.
Perhaps the bear did not like that
I look straight into the bear's eye.
I came in the bear's habitat,
The bear's code of rules should apply.
And so I smile and back away
Back down the path very slowly.
The bear also opts not to stay,
And disappears leaving me be.

Of course I tell the tale, I do.
Maybe the bear tells the tale too.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Selfie Dumb

There is no better time and place
To take selfies than at the Zoo,
Where I can get close face to face
With wild animals and I do.
The signs - don't do this, don't do that,
I see but of course I ignore,
And go next to the habitat,
Because I have selfies to score.
At the Zoo wild animals should
Be used to people being here,
And I want a selfie that's good,
And to get that I must get near.

Getting good selfies is for me
Much more important than safety.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Kepler

Kepler is a space telescope
Launched from Earth in two thousand nine
To go orbit the sun in hope
Of finding planets by design
That maybe could have life like Earth.
So Kepler scanned the Milky Way
Finding information of worth,
Sending back a cosmic array.
Toward the end of twenty eighteen,
After nine years a useful tool,
Kepler did retire from the scene,
Having at last run out of fuel.

Kepler orbits in outer flight,
Asleep as NASA bid "Good night."

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Frogsicles

Wood frogs do be in climates that
In winter time turn frigid cold.
To survive in this habitat,
They go in hibernation hold.
Into a leaf litter they go.
Therein quite solid they do freeze.
In their bodies chemicals flow,
And let the frogs sleep on in ease.
Not peeing helps the frogs survive.
As antifreeze, urea be
Helping to keep the frogs alive -
Natural creativity.

Frogsicles until the Spring day,
The frogs thaw out and hop away.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Modern Day Dinos?

Would dinosaurs still be around,
But for an asteroid that hit,
And all the dinosaurs were downed?
Researchers like to ponder it.
Some researchers are of the mind
That dinosaurs were dying out.
A slow changing climate was behind
Their future extinction no doubt.
But other researchers do say
That if the asteroid was not,
Dinosaurs could have made their way
To a modern time and place slot.

A tricky thing of nature's tricks -
Humans and dinosaurs in mix!

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Ball Lightning

Ball lightning - is it real or not?
Some inquiring minds want to know.
It has not been observed a lot.
Reported sightings come and go.
Most often during thunderstorms,
A softball size bright glowing sphere
From nowhere just suddenly forms.
Seconds later it disappears,
Leaving a burning sulfur smell.
Of course religious zealots say
It is the devil come from hell.
Maybe we'll know for sure one day.

Mysterious phenomenon,
Ball lightning - what does turn it on?

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Horseshoe Crab

The horseshoe crab, researchers say,
Is really not a crab at all.
Horseshoe shaped shell it does display,
But an arachnid is the call,
Related to spiders on land,
Genomic sequencing does tell.
As some researchers understand,
A water spider in a shell.
The research shows that long ago
Some arachnids crawled from the sea,
Becoming spiders that we know.
The horseshoe crab stayed where it be.

The horse shoe arachnid - a new name?
Maybe a change, maybe the same.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bearing Bubbles - LP Zoo

There is nothing better to do
Than do a workout in my pool
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
For this polar bear this is cool.
I watch the humans watching me
Through the glass in the pool's one side.
Of course I show off awesomely,
Giving thrills that I can provide.
Underwater I stay a while,
A close encounter face to face
With humans there, I give a smile,
Connecting in this time and place.

I stay a while before I go,
And some bubbles of air I blow.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Mesmer

Being mesmerized is to be
Spellbound and the term really came
From Franz Anton Mesmer and he
In 1700's got fame
In France for using magnets to
Treat any and all maladies,
So gravitating force might do
A pulling out of the disease,
During which the patient would go
Into a calming trance like state,
So that healing forces could flow
With powers to alleviate.

Though Mesmer was deemed but a whim,
Modern hypnosis comes from him.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

The Choice for the Children

A U.S. bomber, World War II
Was badly hit by German fire,
And so back to Britain it flew,
Emergency landing was dire.
In Sheffield was a patch of green,
A perfect place on which to land,
But a group of children was seen.
They waved and did not understand.
The pilot thus chose not to try
To land there where the children be,
And flew on over in the sky,
Crashing into the nearby sea.

None of the bomber crew survives,
Choosing to save the childrens' lives.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Unrattled - LP Zoo

This lion's lyin' on a rock
And spies a rat come runnin' through
My habitat - it is no shock
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Humans and rats don't get along.
Humans don't like to see rats here.
For me rats are not right or wrong.
Rats tend to know not to get near
To where I may happen to be.
A quick firm swipe of my paw and
A rat becomes just history,
Something the rats just understand.

But when it comes to my meat bone,
The rats better leave that alone.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Otter Play - LP Zoo

This otter loves to play, I do.
I play as often as I can
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
My play time is an all day plan.
And so while swimming in my pool,
I observed a young human tot
Playing nearby - it was so cool.
I did feel connected a lot.
Underwater, I watched a while.
The young tot hardly noticed me,
Engrossed in play - it made me smile.
What a wonderful sight to see!

Always fun for every day,
Everybody otter play.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Dixie

The word, "Dixie, became well known
Sung in a black face minstrel song.
Over the years the word had grown
To mean southern states, right or wrong.
The word, "Dixie," believed to be
Derived from Mason Dixon line,
Surveyors whose activity
Demarked the North and South design.
"Dixie' during the Civil War
Became the anthem of the South,
And still is sung forevermore,
A catchy tune to ear from mouth.

Not known why "Dixie" was the choice
Over "Masie" to get the voice.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Silencing Cicero

The great orator, Cicero,
Believed that Rome should always be
Governed a republic, and so
Fought against Caesar's tyranny.
Supporting Caesar being killed,
Cicero's words were eloquent,
In speech and writings he was skilled.
His foe, Marc Antony, thus sent
Soldiers to Cicero to end
His orations once and for all.
No more to be spoken or penned,
Cicero's head and hands did fall.

Cicero was silenced that day.
His head and hands went on display.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Hump Hump Hooray - LP Zoo

This Bactrian camel does hear
Humans call "Happy Hump Day' to
Me as the humans walk by near,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Over the years I have learned that
If a Wednesday it be hump day,
I guess because the work week's at
A point in time that is half way
To the weekend when humans take
A two day time off from their work.
I've learned that humans often make
Common sense stuff into a quirk.

Seven days in a week there be.
Ev'ry day is hump day for me.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

National Hippo Day '19 - LP Zoo

National Hippo Day '19,
This pygmy hippo's happy to
Do a photo op 'twixt and 'tween
Busy time at Lincoln Park Zoo.
I know visitors love the chance
To see me up close and take pix
Doing my underwater dance,
Full of my fancy movement tricks.
Tiz a full of fun time and place
To catch me at my most agile,
A close encounter face to face.
Of course I give a great big smile.

This is my way for me to say,
"All have a happy hippo day."

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Lumiere Brothers

The Lumiere Brothers did give birth
To motion pictures that went on
A screen that had real big girth,
A mass entertainment - the dawn.
A camera they did invent,
And the film therein could project
The moving pictures to present,
And viewers watching could connect.
1895 was the year
The brothers had their film debut.
In Paris the film did appear,
But was seen by only a few.

And both the Lumiere brothers thought
Motion pictures - future was not.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Wallace Bee

Alfred Wallace, a scientist,
In 1859 did find
The largest bee known to exist -
Two to three inch wing span designed.
But then this bee just disappeared.
Bee followers thought it extinct,
Never to show again 'twas feared,
The Wallace bee gone - quite succinct.
Fast forward to 2018
For 9000 bucks on eBay,
The Wallace bee was once more seen
Alive and well and on display.

To Wallace bee or not to bee,
Its survival will not be free.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Rattle Kill

Bolivia is the home of
The hairy armadillo that
Lives in the mountains high above,
But in a threatened habitat.
The human poachers come around
And grab the armadillos live.
But for the pet trade are they bound?
Suffocated, they don't survive.
And then their shells are made into
Decorative rattles to be
Shown and shaken - the humans do,
Parading so unthinkingly.

An armadillo has a shell.
Kill it to rattle - what the hell!

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Rerise Reprise

"Creature from the Black Lagoon" is
A camp horror movie made back
In '54 when movie biz
Was filmed in 3D white and black.
Actress Julie Adams did play
The pretty girl the creature sought
To make his own, her name was Kay.
The creature's shot in the film plot.
Maybe the creature did not die,
And in a sequel there's a chance
The creature and Kay - oh sigh! sigh!
At last will succeed in romance.

"Love Story from the Black Lagoon,"
Maybe streaming forth to us soon.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Lovers' Pact

Cleopatra, Egyptian queen,
Invited Mark Antony to
Be a power couple on scene
With takeover of Rome to do.
But their great fleet of ships did fail.
One last time Cleo and Mark met.
With his own sword Mark did impale
Himself as the two were dead set.
Stories tell that Cleo did grasp
As her method to end it all
A snake - deadly poisonous asp,
Biting her and darkness did fall.

Cleo and Mark together stayed,
Ever entombed their bodies laid.

Sense Sonnet - Steamer

Blackface

For centuries blackface was done
For black person caricature,
For the whites watching to have fun,
For no other reason for sure.
Whites who put down blacks as a race
Are racist and condemned should be.
There should be no time and no place
For racists in society.
In the fifties when young and dumb,
I did blackface for Halloween.
In white households I felt welcome.
In no black households was I seen.

I know I acted racist then.
I will never act so again.