#WaterPoemProject: Day 19, R. L. Toalson

Welcome back to my month-long #WaterPoemProject, Poetry Friday friends.It’s Day 19. We are almost at the three week mark!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.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 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, who is welcoming us -- virtually -- to the Poem Farm today. (Thanks, Amy!) Still confused? Renée LaTulippe has a great post about our weekly poetry party.Let's ask verse novelist and children’s book author Rachel Toalson to create a watery poetry prompt for us today.Rachel poetry prompt is: Wishing WellLong ago (and in many parts of the world, still, today), water was a scarce and precious source of life. People in cultures across time believed that water had sacred properties, perhaps even hosted spirits and gods. And so wishing wells, places where ordinary people could speak their wishes and hope for the granting of that wish, became important symbols of water’s value to the world. Sometimes people traded armor or weapons for their wishes. Today people trade pennies or other coins.Your poetry challenge is to write a list poem about all the wishes you would toss into a wishing well or pool. A list poem is simply a list that, in this case, can begin with “I wish…” or you can write “I wish” once and list all your wishes. Have fun. Use your imagination. And remember: No wish is too silly to record.My example:I wish…I could swing at the parkI could see my mom and stepdad, sister, brother, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparentsI could enjoy a trip to the frozen yogurt shopStrawberries grew in my backyardChocolate was as good for you as vegetablesI had more time to readI could write an unforgettable bookI didn’t have to do laundryWe knew all the mysterious of the ocean (or not)Unicorns were realI had perfect visionI could stop thinking about my worriesI could find my favorite purple penFlowers could talkI could go to Disney WorldIt would stop raining for a few daysAll good dreams came trueWe’d learn how to love each other betterNo one went to bed hungryThe earth could heal itselfI could save the world***I wish for you all to write a Wishing Well List poem before the end of the day tomorrow, Friday, April 10, 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.Rachel Toalson is an award-winning poet, essayist, and novelist who is the authorof multiple books, including This is How You Know, Life: a definition of terms, andthe three-book Crash Test Parents series, published in 2017. In addition to poetryand essays, she has written multiple novels for early and middle grade readersunder the pen names R.L. Toalson and L.R. Patton. In addition, Rachel contributes poetry and essays to multiple print and online publications around the world. Born in Houston, Texas, Rachel lives in San Antonio with her husband and six sons. Find her online at http://www.racheltoalson.com/.***#WaterPoemProject Series Posts:Project IntroductionFAQPrompt 1: Irene Latham, The Language of WaterPrompt 2: Elizabeth Steinglass, What Would a Raindrop Say?Prompt 3: Linda Mitchell, Found HaikuPrompt 4: Shari Green, Fogbow FibonacciPrompt 5: Margaret Simon, The Taste of WaterPrompt 6: Heather Meloche, The Shape of a WavePrompt 7: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, A Water MemoryPrompt 8: Laura Shovan, Rainy Day OppositesPrompt 9: Kathryn Apel, Silly SolagePrompt 10: Buffy Silverman, A Watery HomePrompt 11: Kara Laughlin, Frozen FogPrompt 12: Debbie Levy, Jump into a LimerickPrompt 13: Joy McCullough, What Are Water Bears?Prompt 14: Linda Baie, Frozen Water SkinnyPrompt 15: Chris Baron, The Hidden World of WaterPrompt 16: Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Water WordplayPrompt 17: Susan Tan, The Sound of WaterPrompt 18: Mike Grosso, Waterplay!Prompt 19: R. L. Toalson, Wishing WellPrompt 20: Margarita Engle, Ode to the ShorePrompt 21: Faye McCray, Poem in a BubblePrompt 22: Meg Eden, Surprising ConnectionsPlease support the #WaterPoemProject authors by buying their books from your favorite independent bookstore.