Skip to main content

Fibonacci Poems

Fibonacci poetry was founded by Gregory K. Pincus. It is a very recent invention.  Fibonacci poems comprise a 6-line format that follows the Fibonacci sequence for syllable count per line. 

In mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers, commonly form a sequence, the Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The link between poetry and mathematics reflects the patterns that emerge in both fields. How good is that?

All that means is the 6-line poem looks like this:
1 syllable for first line
1 syllable for second line
2 syllables for third
3 syllables for fourth
5 syllables for fifth
8 syllables for sixth

For inspiration, I had to go no further than my own garden and the adjacent reserve. Sometimes you just need to go somewhere, sit still and look around you. Fabulous Fibonacci fun...

Late In The Season

a
day
late in
summer's reign
conjures mild sun
showing the season's advanced age.










Red Spotted Jezabel
The
Time
Has come...
Jezabel
Enters the garden
A butterfly cloaked in colour.








Maturing Fruit
The 
Fruit
matures
Slowly now
Summer's intensity
Quelled to a mellow ripening.





 



It is once more poetry friday. This week our host is Molly Hogan at Nix The Comfort Zone. Molly presents a poem that focuses the reader's attnetion on winter scenes, particularly winter trees, their solace and stark beauty. Check it out...

Labels:

Comments

  1. Sally Murphy17 February 2023 at 15:02

    I love this form, Alan - and I love what you have done with it, perfectly capturing this time of year here in Australia. I particularly loved the line "Quelled to a mellow ripening' - so evocative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 February 2023 at 22:43

      Glad you like it Sally. It was fun to capture our summer delights in this way.

      Delete
  2. Bridget Magee17 February 2023 at 19:41

    Fun fibs, Alan. I, too, like the line "Quelled to a mellow ripening" - very juicy! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 February 2023 at 22:45

      Pleased that you enjoyed my little fibs Bridget. It seems the 'quelling' has struck a note with you and Sally.

      Delete
  3. Linda Mitchell17 February 2023 at 22:01

    I love them all. They are so fun to write. Your form is perfect and the lengthening of the poem in reference to the mature summer days works great! Nice photos too. Thanks for a fibronacci poem walk--especially with Jezabel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 February 2023 at 22:47

      Thank you Linda. I like your connection between the increasing length of the poem lines and our mounting summer days. Jezabel is always welcome in my garden.

      Delete
  4. Linda18 February 2023 at 00:29

    These are wonderful, Alan! I especially love the line "A butterfly cloaked in colour". Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright18 February 2023 at 13:38

      Thank you, Linda. Butterflies have always been a fascination to me, so I enjoy any opportunity to write about them.

      Delete
  5. Irene Latham18 February 2023 at 00:56

    That Jezabel is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your Fibs, Alan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Linda B18 February 2023 at 02:05

    Sometimes I think this new fibonacci form fits recent poetry history like the haiku from earlier days, a few words grabs the scene so beautifully, as yours do this time, Alan. The jezebel butterfly is a new one to me, love that & "cloaked in color". Enjoy your endings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright18 February 2023 at 13:42

      Like the correlation between haiku and Fibonacci chronology, Linda. Most interesting analogy. Jezabels are quite unforgettable visitors to my garden. Their appearance is a sign that your garden is healthy.

      Delete
  7. Denise Krebs18 February 2023 at 02:55

    Oh, wow. You have stirred up some serious summer vibes in me with these beautiful poems. It is frigid here in the northern hemisphere desert where I am. The photos and Fibonacci poems are stunning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright18 February 2023 at 13:43

      May my summertime ruminations suitably warm you, Denise. Glad you like the words and images.

      Delete
  8. Kay18 February 2023 at 05:07

    Those poems offer a glimpse of late summer that is welcome on this cold day up north.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright18 February 2023 at 13:45

      Late summer and the living is still easy... A late hot burst in recent days, but generally milder temperatures and the inevitable slide into autumn. Stay warm, Kay

      Delete
  9. Jone18 February 2023 at 13:59

    I love this form of poetry. The red spotted jezebel is quite the beauty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 February 2023 at 12:51

      I agree wholeheartedly regarding the stunning little Jezabel Butterflies, Jone. I love it when they visit our garden. So glad you like these poems.

      Delete
  10. Mary Lee18 February 2023 at 23:54

    In all three of these, your final line is simply a masterpiece -- the word choice, the final capturing of the mood of the poem. Well done!! (And like others in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks for a glimpse of late summer as winter refuses to let us out of its claws even as the daffodils and hyacinths push up! Hmm...maybe I should put on coat and scarf and head to MY garden for some Fibonacci inspiration!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 February 2023 at 12:45

      Thank you Mary Lee for your generous response. May your venture into the garden harvest a rich array of words.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous19 February 2023 at 02:12

    Hi, Alan. It's me, Susan T. These are great! And as Mary Lee says, those final lines are wonderful. I like the Fibonacci form, too; you remind me to give it a try again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 February 2023 at 12:46

      Hi Susan, glad you liked my Fibonacci frolic. Pleased that you want to revisit the form. Happy explorations!

      Delete
  12. Karen Edmisten 19 February 2023 at 02:53

    "Summer's intensity
    Quelled to a mellow ripening." These lines capture the slow shift of the season so beautifully. I enjoyed all the sharp imagery you infused into your fibonaccis, Alan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 February 2023 at 12:48

      Thank you Karen. Summer has reached an advanced age down here, so it is quite understandable that its intensity has dropped off a little. Glad you enjoyed my efforts with the Fibonacci form.

      Delete
  13. Carol Varsalona19 February 2023 at 14:48

    Alan, your fibonacci poems are wonderful presentations on summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright20 February 2023 at 10:39

      Thank you, Carol. I know your affinity for seasonal wonders. so your response is heartening.

      Delete
  14. Michelle Kogan19 February 2023 at 15:36

    Thanks for these three gorgeous poems Alan, and a visit into your garden too! Love your "Jezabel" poem and image, what a beautiful butterfly, I'll have to visit Australia sometime to see her… Such juicy imagery in all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright20 February 2023 at 10:41

      My pleasure Michelle. Our gardens put on the best displays in summer so it is a pleasure to be able share a little of the beauty of the summer season. Jezabel is a most welocme visitor...

      Delete
  15. Patricia Franz20 February 2023 at 02:13

    The form, your photos, your words woven through them - all lovely. I especially love "cloaked in color" - Jezebel loves flash!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright20 February 2023 at 10:42

      Thank you, Patricia. Jezabel is a winner-such a flashy dresser!

      Delete
  16. mbhmaine21 February 2023 at 22:07

    Thanks for sharing your time in the garden. Fibs are such a great form! These are all wonderful, but I really love "Maturing Fruit" with those amazing final lines--the move to quell intensity to "a mellow ripening". Ahhh... Like so many others, I also appreciate the sneak peek of summer plenty as we head into another winter storm ...which of course offers its own beauty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright23 February 2023 at 14:44

      Fibonacci are fun, no doubt about it, Molly. Thank you for your generous remarks- always appreciated. The beauty of the seasons offer a siren call to poets, They're irresistible...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.  I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...
20 comments
Read more

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. N...
26 comments
Read more

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

  This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully  @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant.  A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...
14 comments
Read more