It’s Day 22 of our #WaterPoemProject — 30 days of water-themed poetry prompts from your favorite children’s authors. How do you feel heading into our last week?

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.

Maryland-based poet and young adult author Meg Eden is sharing a writing prompt with us today.

Meg’s prompt is: Surprising Connections

Meg Eden

Make a list of your favorite words. Then pair them in sentences with water and see what funny, surprising combinations you can make. (e.g., Water is a dinosaur. Water is a desert. Water is a chocolate pie).

Pick your favorite resulting sentence and then try to explain it in a poem: Why is water a dinosaur? (Maybe it roars, coming out of your sink.)

Need ideas? Run your hands under the sink faucet. Drink a glass of water. Pay attention to what sensory details are around you, and what surprising connections you can make between seemingly unlike things.

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Are you ready for some unexpected word combinations, poets?  Your goal is to draft a “surprising connections” poem by the end of the day tomorrow, Monday, April 13, 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.

Meg received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland College Park. She teaches creative writing and has taught at a range of places, including Anne Arundel Community College, Southern New Hampshire University online, University of Maryland College Park, Eckleburg Workshops, and The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. She also worked as the advertising manager at AWP.

 She is the author of five poetry chapbooks, the novel Post-High School Reality Quest, and the forthcoming poetry collection Drowning in the Floating World. She is also a participating author with the PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools program. She runs the Magfest MAGES Library blog, which posts accessible academic articles about video games. Find her online at www.megedenbooks.com or on Twitter at @ConfusedNarwhal.

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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.