OIK Tuesday: feed the panda

As I marched the Minnows from the playground up the back steps to our room last Friday, we passed a rather large, not-too-shabby stuffed panda in a red holiday scarf lying in the grass.  It was strange to have it appear there, but stranger that some other classes had walked right by without rescuing it.  So we carried it inside, brushed off the grass clippings, and put him in a chair at the little round table in Pretend Play, which is currently outfitted with yer standard home-corner furniture and a selection of healthy plastic fruits and vegetables plus bread and rice.

Later I noticed that the children playing there had given him a plate of vegetables and rice.  "Oh, interesting!" I said.  "You're feeding the panda some rice.  Does anyone know where real pandas live?"

Several well-educated 5-year-olds answered "China!"  "People eat a lot of rice in China.  And does anyone know what real pandas eat?"

"I know!" said Merrilee.   "They eat boobam!"

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I got interested in a poetic form called the trimeric from this post by Steven Withrow at crackles of speech.  He got inspired by a Poetry Stretch at the Miss Rumphius blog.  I decided to make my trimeric rhyme, and something makes me feel it's important to come back to the first line in the last line of the 4th stanza. 

Welcome, Stranger

We found a lonely panda on the playground.
We’ll keep him till he finds his way home.
For now he’s living in Pretend Play.
Tomorrow it will be his birthday.

We’ll keep him till he finds his way home.
We couldn’t leave him out there all night!
Will somebody claim him? They might.

For now he’s living in Pretend Play.
Real pandas live in China or the zoo.
We’re feeding him boobam I mean bamboo.

Tomorrow it will be his birthday!
We think he’s turning three or maybe four.
He doesn’t seem so lonely anymore.

~ Heidi Mordhorst 2012