The Fibonacci Poem
(a writing prompt)
Write a poem based on the Fibonacci sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, (and so on). The series is formed by adding the last two terms to create each subsequent term: 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, etc.
The Fibonacci sequence, named after the most important European mathematician of the Middle Ages, Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Leonardo Fibonacci, has been called nature’s numbering system. Fibonacci studied books by Indian mathematicians who were already discussing the pattern that later came to be known as the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci was trying, or so the story goes, to solve a problem about rabbits after a number of generations.
Basing a poem on the Fibonacci sequence may lead to unexpected insights in the way that following a traditional form like the sestina or villanelle might also do. The beauty and symmetry of the series and, indeed, other sequences may lead to beauty and symmetry in your poem. The influence of the numbers series on the finished poem or the procedures of the poet may or may not be obvious to readers.
A whole group might write or at least begin a collaborative Fibonacci poem. One person might write the first line, another the second line that pays off from the first, and so on. Poets with an affinity for this prompt (or for counting and numbers) will devise ingenious ways to craft the Fibonacci poem.
--Valerie Fox and Lynn Levin
These directions also appear in Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets, published by Texture Press