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Wednesday, 8 April 2020

It’s Day 18 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.

My good friend, middle grade author, coder, educator, and poet Mike Grosso is in charge of today’s writing prompt.

Mike’s poetry prompt is: Waterplay!

Mike Grosso

When I think of water, I don’t think of drinking,
or washing my face, feet, and hands
(though the last is important).

I think of play.

There are so many ways —
you can swim, wade, dip your fingers and toes
beneath the surface on a blazing hot day.

Do you jump in feet or head-first?
Or are you still gathering the courage to do so?
You can splash-dive and soak the witnesses,
or Marco Polo with eyes closed, splish and splash,
floating like a croc across the surface
before putting your head under and
pretending to be the water monster.

Some of us avoid the moving sprinkler as it inches towards us,
while others run right into the spray.

All of this water play is the right way.
But how do you play?

That’s the poem you should write today.

***

Alright playful poets! Let’s get our feet wet, make a mess, and PLAY with water in our drafts today. Your task is to have a rough draft by the end of the day tomorrow, Thursday, April 9, 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.

Mike Grosso is an author, musician, game designer, and middle school math teacher who always keeps a guitar in his classroom. Mike writes books and records music at his home in Oak Park, Illinois, where he lives with his son, fiance, and a drum set he plays much too loud. I AM DRUMS is his first middle grade novel. Find Mike online at http://www.mikegrossoauthor.com/

***

#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.

5 responses to “#WaterPoemProject: Day 18, Mike Grosso”

  1. […] 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 […]

  2. […] 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 […]

  3. […] 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 […]

  4. […] 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 […]

  5. […] 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 […]

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Laura Shovan

Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.

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