#WaterPoemProject: Day 20, Margarita Engle
It’s Day 20 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.What a treat it is to invite our immediate past Young People's Poet Laureate, Margarita Engle, to our project! Margarita's writing prompt is tied to the places we might be missing while we're sheltering in place.Margarita's prompt is: Ode to the Shore
When I was a child, I touched this river near my mother's hometown in Cuba. According to legend, anyone who touches it will always long to return.Is there a shore that makes you nostalgic? Were there mysteries in the water, such as the manatees, sharks, crocodiles, and caymans of Cuba's estuaries? Does it comfort you to remember times when travel to that place was easy?Can you join me in believing that times of joyful travel to beloved shores will gradually return?
Let your Ode to the Shore flow like water!***Readers, you know I'm a fan of odes. Read about my ode workshop here for some tips on how to write today's poem. Your goal is to draft your ode by the end of the day tomorrow, Saturday, April 11, 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.
Margarita Engle is the Cuban American author of 30 books for children and teens, including the Newbery Honor-winning verse novel, The Surrender Tree, and Pura Belpré Award-winning verse memoir, Enchanted Air. She was the 2017-2019 Young People's Poet Laureate. Her most recent book is With a Star in My Hand.***#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.