A #ClimatePoemProject Prompt for Poetry Friday

Happy Poetry Friday everyone! This week the roundup is hosted by the wonderful Margaret Simon. Thanks Margaret! Head on over for a peek at this year's Progressive Poem, and to check out all the poetic shenanigans!

This Poetry Month, I'm participating in the #ClimatePoemProject, organized by poet extraordinaire Laura Shovan! Laura challenged us to come up with a poetry prompt centered on the theme "climate," which has been making me think about time. When scientists talk about climate in terms of the environment, they often mean the patterns of weather in an area over a long period of time. Climate change means those patterns are shifting, and weather all over the world will be different not just for a season or a year, but for many years to come.

One way to help our community adapt to climate change is to make decisions based on what we think the climate will be in future, instead of what it is now. I do that by being picky about the plants I put in my garden. Woody plants like bushes and trees can live for decades, or even hundreds of years! When I plant bushes and trees in my garden, I try to pick species that can do well in both the climate we have now and the climate we'll have in 30 years. I plant for the future.

Here's my #ClimatePoemProject prompt for you: Write a poem about planting for the future.

What does planting for the future mean to you? Maybe you'd like to plant tomatoes to harvest in a few months. Or, maybe you plan to plant special grasses and flowers so that next year fireflies will make your yard their home. Maybe, you want to plant an idea, and see where it goes. The possibilities are wild...

If you're having trouble coming up with an idea, that's okay! Here are some questions to help you brainstorm:

1) Where do you want to plant?

2) How big is what you're planting now? How big will it become?

3) Who - or what! - will use what you plant?

4) How will the future change because of what you plant?

5) How long will it take what you plant to grow?

I'll be sharing my poem for this prompt next week. If you write a poem from this prompt, I'd love to see what you create! Leave your poems in the comments, or email me through my contact page. And, if you're interested in more prompts for writing poetry about climate this month, check out the Authors Take Action page all about the #ClimatePoemProject here! Children's poets and authors from all over the internet are sharing their climate poetry prompts... it's a poetry party for the planet!