It’s Day 8 of our month-long #WaterPoemProject. If you’re 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.
It’s my turn to come up with our water-themed writing prompt today. Let’s try one of my favorite forms to share with young poets: the opposite poem.
Laura’s poetry prompt is: Rainy Day Opposites
Getting ready to explore some underwater life!
Write a two stanza poem exploring two opposing views of rain — or any water-related opposite.
Some ideas for this poem are:
- Rain in the summer vs. rain in the winter.
- What rain feels like when you’re alone and what it feels like when you’re with a friend.
- Animals that life in the water compared to land animals.
- A rainy day in the city and a rainy day in the country.
- Snow in the daytime and snow at night.
You will find a full description of my opposite poem workshop at my old blog, Author Amok. There are fun student poems there too!
And to help put you in a rainy mood, here are two of my favorite poems about the rain: “Weather” by Eve Merriam, and Langston Hughes’ beautiful, “April Rain Song” which you’ll find in this video (begin at :37).
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Your task is to draft an opposite poem related to water before the end of the day tomorrow, Monday, March 30, 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.
Laura Shovan’s debut middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, won several awards, including NCTE 2017 Notable Verse. Her novel Takedown was selected by Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way, and was on the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer list of feminist books. Her 2020 book is A Place at the Table, co-written with author/activist Saadia Faruqi. Laura is a longtime poet-in-the-schools in Maryland. She likes to knit, bake bread, and doodle robots.
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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.
Sometimes,
the rain is gone,
drained then disappeared,
the river, briefly broken
Other times,
the rain is here,
cradled in cupped hands;
an ocean, briefly stolen
ocean briefly stolen is really nice.
Oooh, I love that briefly stolen ocean.
Great imagery, alliteration and repetition! The lines, “the river briefly, broken, cradled, in cupped hands; an ocean, briefly stolen” move me. Thank you.
You play with alliteration so beautifully in this poem. I especially like “briefly broken.” Those last two lines are wonderful.
Winter rain
drizzles in misty fog
freezes icy puddles
shivers down your raincoat.
Summer rain
showers afternoon sun
drenches fields of clover
washes your sweaty toes.
I have a sensory reaction to “shivers down your raincoat”!
Margaret, great imagery and consonance of letter s! I especially like how the reader can feel, “shivers down your raincoat” and “washes your sweaty toes.”