It’s Day 17 of our #WaterPoemProject — 30 days of water-themed poetry prompts from your favorite children’s authors.
If you’re looking for National Poetry Month writing prompts, we’ve got you covered. Start with Day 1 and you’ll have poetry prompts from now through the end of April.
New to this project? Please read the Introduction and FAQ. Or you can watch this video of me describing how to participate. It’s on the YouTube channel Authors Everywhere.
I’m excited to welcome middle grade author Susan Tan to write with us today!
Susan’s poetry prompt is: The Sound of Water
Susan Tan
The sound of water can be the soothing rush of a stream, the strangely loud “plop!” of a drip in a broken tap, the gentle patter of rain on a window, and so much more. Imagine a sound that water makes, in any form, and write a poem about what these sounds are saying. Bonus points if the rhythm of your poem matches or evokes the rhythm of the water you’re giving voice to.
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What’s that sound I hear? Is it the scritch-scratch of pencils moving? I hope you’re feeling inspired to incorporate sounds into your poem today. Aim to have a rough draft by the end of the day tomorrow, Wednesday, April 8, 2020.
If you’re doing the #WaterPoemProject with a group, be sure to share or post your rough draft, read other people’s poems, and cheer for their efforts. Or leave your poem here, in the comments.
Susan Tan is the author of Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire (winner of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Children’s Honor Award), Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book is A Classic, and Cilla Lee-Jenkins: The Epic Story (Shortlisted for the New England Book Award). She loves reading, crocheting, and eating cookies whenever possible. Susan also recently began a YouTube channel called Authors Everywhere, which collects and creates videos from children’s book authors and illustrators to offer kids creative and emotional outlets during this time out of school. Authors Everywhere has activities, read alouds, writing workshops, and more!
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#WaterPoemProject Series Posts:
Project Introduction
FAQ
Prompt 1: Irene Latham, The Language of Water
Prompt 2: Elizabeth Steinglass, What Would a Raindrop Say?
Prompt 3: Linda Mitchell, Found Haiku
Prompt 4: Shari Green, Fogbow Fibonacci
Prompt 5: Margaret Simon, The Taste of Water
Prompt 6: Heather Meloche, The Shape of a Wave
Prompt 7: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, A Water Memory
Prompt 8: Laura Shovan, Rainy Day Opposites
Prompt 9: Kathryn Apel, Silly Solage
Prompt 10: Buffy Silverman, A Watery Home
Prompt 11: Kara Laughlin, Frozen Fog
Prompt 12: Debbie Levy, Jump into a Limerick
Prompt 13: Joy McCullough, What Are Water Bears?
Prompt 14: Linda Baie, Frozen Water Skinny
Prompt 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of Water
Prompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water Wordplay
Prompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of Water
Prompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay!
Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing Well
Prompt 20: Margarita Engle, Ode to the Shore
Prompt 21: Faye McCray, Poem in a Bubble
Prompt 22: Meg Eden, Surprising Connections
Please support the #WaterPoemProject authors by buying their books from your favorite independent bookstore.
“tantrum sea”
more than the spit of salt lashing your face,
more than the eager cries of the gulls overhead,
more than the coarse accumulation of wet sand between your toes,
it’s the roaring noise that lets you know just where you stand,
gazing out into the waves with the beach stretching out behind you.
the ocean crashes and rumbles,
rises up with a the rush of an increasing hiss behind your eyes
and collapses again with an earth-shattering thunderclap
as gathering foam recedes into the water again with a gentle hum.
the cacophony of the sea,
determined to even further prove its power,
delivers to you its message as clear as day.
[…] 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of Water Prompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water Wordplay Prompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of Water Prompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay! Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing Well Prompt 20: Margarita […]
[…] 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of Water Prompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water Wordplay Prompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of Water Prompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay! Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing Well Prompt 20: Margarita […]
[…] 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of Water Prompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water Wordplay Prompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of Water Prompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay! Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing Well Prompt 20: Margarita […]
[…] 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of Water Prompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water Wordplay Prompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of Water Prompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay! Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing Well Prompt 20: Margarita […]