Welcome back to my month-long #WaterPoemProject, Poetry Friday friends.
It’s Day 26. Can you believe our project is nearing its end?
If you’re new to the #WaterPoemProject, 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.
For #WaterPoemProject regulars who are new to Poetry Friday, each week a kidlit blogger hosts poetry-related links and posts from around the kidlitosphere. This week’s host is Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone. (Thanks, Molly!) Still confused? Renée LaTulippe has a great post about our weekly poetry party.
Today’s writing starter comes from verse novelist and children’s book author Amanda Rawson Hill.
Amanda’s poetry prompt is: Write a “Where I’m From” Poem for Water
Where does water come from? The mountains? The ocean? A cloud? Write a poem that tells us by describing what that place looks, feels, sounds, and smells like.
Here’s a link to “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon: http://www.
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Students, you may have created a “Where I’m From” poem about yourself at school. But what does the poem sound like when you write it in the voice of water? Draft your new poem before the end of the day tomorrow, Friday, April 17, 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.
Amanda Rawson Hill is a poet, educator, and science enthusiast. She lives in California with her husband, 4 kids, 3 Guinea pigs, one dog, and one cat. She is the author of THE THREE RULES OF EVERYDAY MAGIC and the forthcoming, YOU’LL FIND ME. Find her online at amandarawsonhill.com
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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
Prompt 23: Beth Ain, Water with Salt
Prompt 24: Kevin Hodgson, A Poem about Peepers
Prompt 25: Laura Purdie Salas, Be a Snow-Maker!
Prompt 26: Amanda Rawson Hill, Where Does Water Come From?
Please support the #WaterPoemProject authors by buying their books from your favorite independent bookstore.
What an excellent challenge. I am loving all these different prompts related by topic. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Sally. The authors have come up with amazing prompts. I’ve only tried a few, but I’m aiming to do all 30.
I’ve written “Where I’m From” poems many times with teachers and students, but never in the voice of someone or something else. Love this twist and how it can be applied in classroom content areas. Thanks for sharing, Laura!
I agree, Rose. This prompt is a new way to look at a classic poem-writing activity.
Ocean
I am from rains of Chronos
From ancient of days, alpha to omega
I am from low land
kelp beds to deep trenches of fine brine
I am from coralreaching ever toward the light.
I am from gales and calm
from Poseidon and Thalassa
tidal pools and shushing surf
from Noah’s flood and Jonah’s whale
to sailors sacrificed to please gods
I’m from Atlantis bounty
fish and turtle…sea stars too
From pink-at-nightreadings
of fair and following winds.
Menemsha, Plymouth, Stonington
salted memories
stored in barrels
for winter.
(c) Linda Mitchell #WaterPoemProject Day 27
This is a very interesting poem that brings in mythology, biblical times, and other great references, Linda.
From the first line, I know that this poem will be epic in its view of water. Well done, Linda!
Thank you Laura for the Water Project!
WATER
I’m from gasses that gather
to make H2O.
I’m from vapor too warm
to be wet.
I’m from crystals that
vibrate, splinter and melt.
I’m from solid, liquid, gas–
And given the needs of
the world all around
to each useful
state I will pass.
© Janice Scully (draft)
These are such great verbs! “I’m from crystals that/
vibrate, splinter and melt.” Thanks for writing with us today, Janice!
The poems I’ve read thus far from this challenge are beautiful responses, Laura & Amanda. Thank you!
I love this prompt–and it goes perfectly with the practice I’m on in poemcrazy. I’m looking forward to having a c conversation with my pond later today to see where it is from. If all goes well, I’ll have a poem soon to share.
Laura, this prompt is one that certainly asks us to stretch our thoughts beyond self. Thanks for this project. Hopefully in the future, I will have time to write some more water poems.
I wish I’d been able to focus on your project more this month, Laura. Every time I sneak a peek, I’m wowed by the prompts and responses. This is yet another great prompt–what a neat twist on a “Where I’m from” poem.
Though I haven’t participated, I’ve enjoyed reading poems from this project on different blogs. Such wonderful subject matter and so many creative ways to approach it.
A great twist to a reliable stand-by prompt! I loved reading Linda’s and Janice’s responses.
Tempting and inspiring prompt, I’ll have to return to this one and perhaps in a metaphorical way…Thanks Laura and Amanda!
[…] Salt Prompt 24: Kevin Hodgson, A Poem about Peepers Prompt 25: Laura Purdie Salas, Be a Snow-Maker! Prompt 26: Amanda Rawson Hill, Where Does Water Come From? Prompt 27: Nikki Grimes, Word? Play! Prompt 28: Heidi Mordhorst, Try a […]
Ooh, I love the idea of writing a ‘where I am from” poem with water and I may have to write one for food. (cue wheels turning)