Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Pile of ...? - L P Zoo

It is the start of a new day
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
And Mom does bring me out to play,
Something this rhino loves to do.
Out in the yard what do I see?
On the ground is a pile of white.
What did the keepers leave for me?
Keepers keep up new stuff all right.
I approach the pile, stopping near,
Looking, hearing, sniffing at it.
I know that there's nothing to fear,
So I close in and touch a bit.

I have got you curious no doubt.
For me to know and you to find out.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Hand Slapping Time - LP Zoo

De Brazza's monkeys, Dad and son,
Get it on with a hand slap game,
Both slapping up a lot of fun,
Each one taking handfuls of aim.
The son, Bomani, darts about,
Trying to take Dad by surprise.
But Dad does hold his own, no doubt,
To his son's tricks old Dad is wise.
A special sharing 'twixt and 'tween
A Dad and son competing fine.
Lucky are watchers on the scene
Getting to watch these monkeys shine.

You can watch this Dad and son too
When you visit Lincoln Park Zoo.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Stripes or Spots - LP Zoo

Giraffes have lots of spots, they do.
This zebra was noticing that
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Both of us in the habitat.
That made me wonder if I would
Look better in spots than in stripes.
I took a look at me real good,
And tried to imagine spots - yipes!
A zebra with spots - I don't know.
I do enjoy my stripes of course.
If I had only spots to show,
I'd look like any spotted horse.

I think I'll stick with stripes and be
The zebra that all know is me.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Models of Relax - LP Zoo

Mom and Dad and baby son do
A gorilla family max
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo
Of a time out just to relax.
Taking life easy for a while,
Leaving the busy world around,
And enjoying a laid back style,
All stretching out upon the ground,
Watching visitors come and go.
The humans always on the move,
The back and forth, the to and fro,
Not the relaxed gorilla groove.

Relax to the max and do be
Like the gorilla family.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Family on the Hunt - LP Zoo

The red wolf family does do
Some hunting time with pretend prey
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Doing so in a playful way.
A scented bag the keepers hide
To be enrichment to be found
When all the wolves do come outside,
And the wolves start sniffing around.
The young wolf pups excitedly
Find the prey bag and rough it up,
While Mom and Dad watch from nearby,
Fun for each parent and each pup.

Often on the red wolf home front,
The family is on the hunt.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Pope Formosus

In 893 the Pope died.
Pope Formosus for two years had
Been Pope during great divide
Within the Church and times were bad.
Formosus' corpse was disinterred
And brought to a Vatican room,
Where charges against him were heard -
Ex communication his doom.
His papal vestments were torn from
His corpse by the priestly enclave,
Sent off to eternal helldom
And buried in a pauper's grave.

Then appealed in 897,
Formosus went from hell to heaven.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

By Bruno Standards - LP Zoo

I am called Bruno and I do
What a cinerous vulture does
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Feed on dead animals becuz
That is a vital vulture role
To clean up dead animals that
If piled up would take a bad toll
On the health of a habitat.
Unlike the wild, wildlife do not
Drop dead a lot around me here,
So my keepers give me a lot
Of chunks of meat that they drop near.

Whole dead animals tend to be
A bit unsavory for me.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Eureka - Mud! - LP Zoo

I have discovered something new.
This young rhino discovered mud
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
The stuff right now is my best bud.
I like the feeling when I go
A splashing right into the stuff.
The sight of me makes quite a show,
And all the crowds can't get enough.
If I could share my mud, I would.
With all the crowds, my mud I'd share.
Mud covered crowds would be real good.
But I can't bring mud to crowds there.

So all the crowds will have to be
Content to just watch muddy me.

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

My Body Snatched?

Most of the human body cells
Are non human microbes that be
In the body and therein dwells,
Such germs hosted by you and me.
Whatever tastes we each acquire,
The likes and dislikes we have each -
Perhaps parasitic desire
That into our brains do reach.
I don't like broccoli to eat.
I like to vote not red but blue.
Do I host microbes that compete
On all the stuff I think and do?

It is my body, heart and soul,
But am I really in control?

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Woodstock 50th

August fifteenth through eighteenth be
The time that Woodstock music played,
Fifty year anniversary
When culture history was made.
More than four hundred thousand came
In '69 to the Catskills,
To Max Yasgur's farm and could claim,
"I was there" in those crowded hills.
Four days of peace and music to
Groove to the Aquarius Age,
One of the wildest weekends, true,
A time and place that took front stage.

Older and grayer some still rock
To memories made at Woodstock.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

A Pup a Peep - LP Zoo

A red wolf pup - I'm one of four
Brothers and sisters, two and two.
At five months old we all explore
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Each of us is getting good at
Playing the game of hide and seek,
Scattered throughout the habitat,
Through the summer leaves we do peek.
Rarely together do we be,
When outside going forth and back.
But we are a close family.
With Mom and Dad we're a six pack.

Come visit us on any day,
And hide and seek with you we'll play.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

World Lion Day '19 - LP Zoo

August  tenth of twenty nineteen
Designated World Lion Day.
Missed are lions no longer seen
At Lincoln Park Zoo, sad to say.
They were moved to another zoo
So that the Lion House could be
Redone to state-of-the-art new.,
A future living pride, truly,
An awesome home for liondom.
It will take time before it's done,
Maybe World Lion Day to come
By the year twenty twenty one.

While Zoo and lions are apart
The lions remain close to heart.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Gluay Hom

Gluay Hom, elephant in distress,
Has been saved from his life of hell.
At least ten years old is the guess,
Just property to buy and sell.
In Bangkok in chains on concrete,
A wildlife attraction to view
Wounds and injuries of mistreat.
Save Elephants at last came through,
Paying for Gluay Hom to transfer
To a good habitat to be
Given a better life for sure.
From torment hell he's now set free.

Enjoying for the first time now,
Taking a feel good mud bath - wow!

Sense Sonnet - Chiller

Beyond Divorce

Princess Sophie of Poland came
To Russia quite reluctantly
To marry and to change her name
To Catherine, and wife to be
Of Peter, the new Russian tsar.
Then in seventeen sixty two
In a takeover quite bizarre,
She removed Peter in a coup,
Forced her hubby to abdicate,
And put him under house arrest.
Assassination then his fate,
Catherine ordered was best guessed.

She then ruled Russia on her own.
Catherine the Great she was known.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Djeke with Mom - LP Zoo

I am a gorilla Mom who
Is tending my very young son
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
The two of us are having fun
In a shared quiet moment that
Is not always easy to find
In our busy habitat
Of gorilla family kind.
Djeke's going on two months old,
A happy healthy growing boy,
Who in my arms I love to hold.
Having him near is such a joy.

This Mom with son takes time to share
Some peace and quiet when it's there.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Cold Case Heats Up

The Diary of Anne Frank became
The most widely read writing from
The Holocaust. Who was to blame
For the Frank family to come
Into the Nazi hands? Two years
In a warehouse the Franks did hide,
But discovered - worst of their fears,
And the Franks' freedom was denied.
To concentrations camps they went,
Never together more to be.
It never has been evident
How the Franks were found by Nazi.

Still searchers seek through time and space
To solve this very old cold case.

Sense Sonnet - Acher

Wolf Children

The "wolf children" of World War II
Were children separated from
Their German parents and left to
Try to survive the perils to come.
The war was coming to an end,
And clear that Germany had lost.
German families did descend
To being hated at great cost.
Some parents made their children go
To nearby forests there to hide,
And live like wolves for a time, so
Were victims of a sad divide.

Some were reunited, some not.
The "wolf children" never forgot.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Sharing Hay - LP Zoo

Two zebras and a giraffe meet
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo
To share in a tasty hay treat.
A time and place for all to chew
In the savannah on a day
That's summery and sunny bright.
The three be seen sharing some hay,
Making an awesome social sight.
Exchanging pleasantries - maybe
On what is going on around,
All the many humans to see,
Who visit to be nature bound.

And once the hay treat is all gone,
The zebras and giraffe move on.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Midland Painted Turtle - LP Zoo

A midland painted turtle, I
In North America do dwell,
Brightly colored I don't deny,
Having a green and yellow shell,
With beaded lines of black and red
Forming a look of artful wreath,
Where I stick in and out my head.
Sometimes I like to stay beneath
The freshwater where dark and cool.
Sometimes on log or rock I'm found,
Soaking up rays of sunny fuel,
Aware of all that be around.

Visit me at Lincoln Park Zoo.
We'll play a game of peek-a-boo.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Three Hundred Pound Three Monther - LP Zoo

Romeo here for an update
On how big this rhino boy grew,
Now 'bout 300 pounds my weight
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Going on being 3 months old,
My out and about's on the rise.
Through all my yard I've run and strolled,
Getting a lot of exercise.
I'm getting used to crowds out there,
Watching every move I make.
There's more and more of me to share,
And so more photo ops to take.

Come to my yard on any day,
Ask if I can come out and play.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Who to Chew - LP Zoo

Mondika here with an update
I am going on three months old,
On my way to being ape great,
This gorilla boy's being told.
Currently I am teething and
I have gotten five new teeth so
I am into chewing up grand,
As my good Mom surely does know.
The chew game that I like to play,
I like to play with Mom for sure,
Getting close in a needy way,
Then proceeding to chew on her.

Visit me at Lincoln Park Zoo.
I'll give a tongue out just for you.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Double B'Day '19 - LP Zoo

A double Happy Birthday to
Etana and Finely who be
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Giraffes - Finely is turning three
And Etana turns twenty one.
Etana has a Mom like way,
Treating Finely like her own son.
Lots of affection on display
'Twixt and 'tween the beautiful pair,
Looking down on visitors all
From the habitat they both share,
Hearing the voices, "Wow they're tall."

Wishing a Happy Birthday twice
July 25th - double nice.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Triumph Turns 8 - LP Zoo

Triumph, the klipspringer, turns eight,
And most of those years did accrue
While being a good Mom and mate
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
She's often seen with family,
Climbing surefooted rock to rock.
An awesome climber she does be,
In quick run or leisurely walk.
The African Journey is where
She and family can be found
Journeying in habitat there,
Watching visitors come around.

Wishing Triumph Happy Birthday,
And many more to come her way.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Spot on Etana - LP Zoo

Spotting giraffe type's hard to do.
Etana is hybrid between,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Two of giraffe subspecies seen.
Partly reticulated and
Partly Rothschild Etana be,
And thus her spots are double grand,
Sharing a blend so artfully,
Weaving a pattern of brown spots,
Varied in jagging and in tone,
Separated by white lines - lots,
All uniquely Etana's own.

Come visit Etana and note
She always wears a lovely coat.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Relationship Building - LP Zoo

We naked mole rats love to do
A groupie with us in a pile
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
Close encounters we do in style.
In Small Mammal House we're good at
Sticking together very tight,
Oft seen in our habitat
A naked mass of awesome sight.
We're used to having little air.
Our breathing we regulate,
Piled together in burrows there,
So none of us do suffocate.

You want to see a living wall?
Come and visit us one and all.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Tail Tale - LP Zoo

A Bolivian gray titi
Monkey, I usually do
A multi tail wrapping groupie
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
When all of us monkeys decide
That we're up for taking a nap,
On a branch we all sit astride,
And entwine all tails in a wrap.
It is a way we monkeys bond -
Be all for one and one for all.
It's also a way to respond,
Just in case one of us should fall.

Right now I'm alone and awake,
But soon a nap for bonding sake.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Handy Dad - LP Zoo

I lend a helping hand, I do.
Busy gorilla Dad I be,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
I have my growing daughters three,
Plus two new infant sons, and so
I have a handful of Dad stuff
That keeps me always on the go.
Never seems to be time enough,
There's always this or always that,
And I'm needed to be on hand,
So all's well in the habitat.
It's Dad duty - I understand.

Though a handful are my offspring,
A lot of pride and joy they bring.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Bowling for Rhinos '19 - LP Zoo

Bowling for Rhinos - I thank you
For helping rhinos in the wild.
This rhino in Lincoln Park Zoo
Is as excited as a child
For the upcoming bowling day
When bowlers bowl together for
Raising funds for a better way
To help conserve wild rhinos more.
I do have my own bowling ball
Made to look like the planet Earth
To show that we're connected all
For a cause that's one of great worth.

Please give some time and cash to spare
For wild rhinos everywhere.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Nicobar Pigeon - LP Zoo

A Nicobar pigeon I be
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
Multi colored feathered is me,
I do a fashion splash, I do.
Southeast Asian islets my kind
Do live, flying from isle to isle,
Colony flight pattern designed
To fly forth in a single file.
But here at the Zoo you can sight
Me at the Bird House where I'm at,
Looking so awesome in Free Flight,
Coloring up the habitat.

An interesting fact to know -
I'm close kin to extinct dodo.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Goat Chat

We goats oft have something to say.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.
We say whatever in a way,
Communicating  thoughts we've had.
Some humans are now learning that
We goats among each other talk
While we're in our habitat.
It really should come as no shock.
We often talk of humans who
Are providing us daily care.
Are we happy with what they do,
Or not - either way we do share.

If you are human and come near
A goat, take a moment to hear.

Sense Sonnet - Pumper

Wondering One - LP Zoo

This teenager wonders a lot.
I'm wondering now what I will do.
So many wonderings I've got
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo.
I wonder if I ever will
Have a family of my own,
Even though I am too young still,
But maybe someday when I'm grown.
I see the family next door,
The Dad and Moms with little ones.
Still a gorilla bachelor,
I wonder 'bout daughters and sons.

Teenage wondering perserveres
As I grow through my wonder years.