Following on from the last activity, the pupils could write their own poems in celebration of water. Use Larkin's poem as an introduction, or another such as Randall Jarrell's poem 'Well Water' (in Voices 3). In this the cranking of water up from "an old well at the bottom of the world" becomes a revelation of the richness of things.

The story of Elijah and the priests of Baal (I Kings 18) would also provide a good stimulus. It describes the drought, which afflicts the land ending "with a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea". The poem could be divided into two parts

1. imagine what it must be like for all the creatures that suffer from the drought
- the trees with their root desperately pushing through the sand and stones looking for water
- the cattle licking out dried troughs and chewing on dead grass mixed with dust
- the people scrabbling down wells, digging deeper into the dust and finding - if they are lucky - a cup full of mud

2. describe the storm of rain - the sensations as it pours over all the creatures of the earth, and their emotions.