Birthday Verse for Our Own Butter Baby

Tai Shan (James A. Parcell - The Washington Post)

In the 12 months since his birth July 9, 2005, Tai Shan has stolen the hearts of people the world over. The giant panda may be Washington's perfect goodwill ambassador: born in the U.S. to immigrant parents, black and white, a quadruped but bipartisan, utterly awwww -inspiring.

In honor of Tai Shan's first birthday, I invited readers to celebrate him in verse. Who better to help judge the entries than Tai Shan himself? We sat down together last week at a coffee bar not far from the National Zoo. As he sipped a chai iced tea latte, Tai Shan selected these haiku:

Tai Shan's one year old

Celebrate our new panda

Prince of peace and love

-- Kristi Kahler, Bowie

"I'm all about the peace and love," Tai Shan said.

Washington, July

One-year-old Tai Shan devours

The Bamboo Curtain

-- Lawrence P. McGuire, Waldorf

"Peace, love and bamboo," he added.

Falling on my butt,

Sitting in my little tub --

Quick! Take my picture!

-- Charlie Bryant, Gaithersburg

"So true, man," laughed Tai Shan. He also got a kick out of this submission from the District's Matt Goldschmidt:

Japanese poem

But a Chinese panda bear

Inappropriate

I found the furry celebrity to be remarkably self-effacing. Witness his affection for this poem by Oakton's Deborah M. Davidson:

A Tai Shan poem?

Surely you jest!

Please oh please,

Put it to rest.

Accessed on-line,

And even TV,

Poor little creature

Let it be!

Let it be!

So in observance

Of this memorable day,

Bah humbug Tai Shan!

Please go away .

The young panda also displayed a rarely seen political side, selecting this pointed poem by Judy Pilgrim of Arlington:

Bush is in the White House;

the panda's in the zoo.

While Bush and Cheney start the wars,

Tai Shan munches on bamboo.

It would be a better world

if the reverse were true.

George and Dick behind the bars;

Tai Shan on Pennsylvania Avenue

"Hey, we have hawks and doves at the zoo," Tai Shan said. Next, Tai Shan picked this limerick from Mae Scanlon of Washington:

As I sit on my pleasant veranda,

I think of that cute little panda,

And offer a cheer

That Tai Shan lives here,

And not in some zoo in Orlanda.

He also liked this little ditty from Olney's Stephen Dudzik:

Happy birthday dear Tai Shan

You make my heart aflutter

Out you popped, a golden stick

Though more Parkay than butter

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature," Tai Shan said, evincing a familiarity with American pop culture I wouldn't expect an endangered Sino-American mammal to possess. "I thought I would get tired of all the Butterstick jokes, but I can't enough of them," he said. "They're comedy gold."

That's a good thing, for Kensington's Alexander Fraser touched upon it in the entry I picked as my favorite:

Tai Shan, babe, you stick of butter,

Just say bye-bye to your Mutter.

China wants you, really bad.

Say "good bye" to your Dad.

One more year is all we'll get;

Then we'll put you on a jet.

Life was easy at our zoo;

Now you'll eat wild bamboo.

Alexander and I will be lunching together soon, though probably not on wild bamboo. Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll post more submissions during my online chat Friday.

Send a Kid to Camp

---

As we left the coffee shop, Tai Shan wished me luck in our campaign in support of Camp Moss Hollow, the summer camp for at-risk kids.

"As nice as the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat is," he said, "I wouldn't mind escaping the city every once in a while." That's what your donation will allow needy kids in the D.C. area to do.

Our goal by July 28: $450,000 . Our total as of Friday: $226,277.71 .

To make your tax-deductible contribution: Make a check or money order payable to "Send a Kid to Camp" and mail it to P.O. Box 96237, Washington, D.C. 20090-6237.

To contribute online , go here . To donate using MasterCard or Visa by phone , call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on our taped message.

My e-mail:kellyj@washpost.com