July Writing Prompts

Water is on all our minds lately, with the disastrous happenings in the Gulf of Mexico. Considering it’s one of the few basics essential for life here on this third planet from our sun, it’s interesting how much we take water for granted. Turn on any tap, and there it is free flowing. We squander it on golf courses and greening cities in the desert. We pollute it without thinking as we go about our daily lives. There are vast islands of debris circling around our oceans, killing marine life. We are all just as guilty as BP Oil in the destruction of our precious resource.

So now that we’re suitably despondent, what can we as poets do about it? Write, of course. Dig deeply into our own behaviors and patterns and search for redemption, then through our words inspire others to change their ways, to lend a hand.

As you celebrate your summer—whether at the seashore or lakefront or by a rushing river—notice how we gravitate to water at this time of year for cooling and for pure fun. What could you do even while on vacation to make a difference in the health of the local waters? What could you do to alert others?

• I challenge you to build an altar at your kitchen sink, to enshrine your water faucets, to honor the live-giving bounty that pours from it.
• I challenge you to respect all water, to give thanks for it as much as for the food on your table.
• I challenge you to feel your own watery connection—from the inside out—to all the waters of the earth.
• I challenge you to find new paradigms, new ways to look at water, new ways to write about water.

Water is also a symbol of flow in our lives, the rhythm of change, the pace of our lives ebbing and flowing as tides. Can you hear the music in the waters? The pulse and heartbeat of Mother Earth? Thus month as we all commune with sun and water, let us pause and think about the true meaning of water in our lives. Creating poetry from your observations preserves these ideas and allows you to share your insights with others. So please, try some of these prompts and see where they lead you, then share your 10s here for us all to enjoy.

Here are some prompts to get you started: