Weekend Mini-Challenge: The Fib(onacci)

By Dr. René Hoffmann,  via Wikimedia Commons

This weekend, Toads and Toadettes, we will be looking at another short, syllable counting poetry form, suggested to me (hedgewitch) by our connoisseur of short form, Marian Kent. It's called the Fibonnaci, or Fib, and is based on a mathematical progression known as the Fibonnaci sequence.

First introduced to the West in the 13th century, and originating in ancient India, the Fibonacci sequence frequently appears in modern art and composition, (perhaps most famously in Dan Brown's pop best-seller The Da Vinci Code) but for those who are either fuzzy about it, or aren’t familiar with it at all , rather than confuse you with my lack of math comprehension, I'll let wikipedia explain it (or you may skip directly down to the Challenge section below the video clip, where the specifics are laid out):

"In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers or Fibonacci series or Fibonacci sequence are the numbers in the following integer sequence:

 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34…

By definition, the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two.

The Fibonacci sequence is named after Leonardo Fibonacci. His 1202 book Liber Abaci introduced the sequence to Western European mathematics, although the sequence had been described earlier in Indian mathematics."

How does this apply to poetry, you ask?  Once again, wikipedia:

"Fib is an experimental Western poetry form,…based on the Fibonacci sequence. The typical fib is a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8 - with as many syllables per line as the line's corresponding place in the Fibonacci sequence... The only restriction on a Fib is that the syllable count follow the Fibonacci sequence…"

The form was originated by Gregory K. Pincus in 2006, and you can find a clear exposition of it here, at Writer's Digest, along with various examples, and also at Mr. Pincus's blog. On about.com, Georgia Luna Smith Faust discusses building Fibonacci poems by word count as well as syllable count, and there is even an article taking notice of the form from the the New York Times Book Section.

The Fibonacci sequence is also related to the Golden Ratio, a consonance between mathematics and the aesthetic building blocks of art, also expressed in nature. Here's a video that shows the relationships better than I could explain:

The Challenge:  is to write a poem in the Fibonacci form, where the first line contains 1 syllable, the second, 1 syllable (the sum of 0 and 1) the third, 2 syllables (sum of lines 1 and 2) the fourth, 3 syllables (sum of lines 2 and 3) the fifth, 5 syllables (sum of lines 3 and 4) the final line, 8 syllables (sum of lines 4 and 5) ending with a six line, 20 syllable poem all told.

Alternatively, you can follow the same blueprint above using a word count instead of a syllable count, which may give more scope to your poem.

So, your pattern will look like this:

Line 1:   1    (syllable or word)
Line 2:   1    (            "           )
Line 3:   2    (syllables/words)
Line 4:   3    (           "            )
Line 5:   5    (           "            )
Line 6:   8    (           "            )

It's quite possible to continue on in the sequence(13,21,34,55,89, etc) but it tends to get unwieldy rapidly after a certain point.

You can also, as with the nonet, etheree, etc, reverse the sequence after 8 syllables or words:
 1/1/2/3/5/8/8/5/3/2/1/1
for a 12 line poem if you so desire, or write several linked Fibs. Feel free to be as creative in the arrangements as you'd like, so long as the form is clearly present.


Free Verse: For those not inspired by the constraints of form, as always there is the free verse option, with the challenge being to write to any of these suggestions:

• the top photo of the nautilus shell (an example of the sequence in nature)
• any other example(s) of the Fibonacci sequence/ the golden ratio in art or nature
• Fibonacci himself
• the origins of the sequence in ancient India
• any similar such tie-in with the theme that sparks your fancy
  

 In the spirit of both the Fibonacci sequence and the 'mini' part of the mini-challenge, please keep your free verse poem to 5, 8, 13 or at most 21 lines, and as always, for both form and free verse, please write a new poem for the challenge. (Also as always, if you use the photo at the top, please include attribution.)

Above all, enjoy the challenge and explore it's little mathematical and historical nooks and crannies, even if for you like me, mathematics can seem a deep and abiding mystery---after all, so is poetry.

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Footnote: Not long after choosing this subject for the mini-challenge in July, many will know I took a hiatus from blogging. After writing this up, I found out that during that time, Tony Maude at dVerse Poet's Pub had done a prompt on Mathematical Forms, in which he covers the Fibonacci. I apologize to those who have already done this form there, and for this challenge coming right on the heels of his--it was a complete random coincidence.