Guest Writers Prompt

How I Turned Calculus into Poetry

Once upon a time, when I was a brand new student at University of Illinois majoring in statistics in 1988, no one could’ve told me that, by 1991, I would be on the verge of changing my major to psychology due to being burned out by math, specifically abstract multivariable calculus. It was at that point when I took a test with all letters, not one number, that I decided to start writing poetry in all of my spare moments. What is truly ironic is how I stumbled back upon the Fibonacci sequence in my poetry endeavors, and love it more as a poet than I ever did as the math geek who once aspired to be a sports statistician.

A Fibonacci poem (or Fib) is a multiple-line verse based on the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci sequence begins with zero, followed by one, followed by one again, and proceeds based on the rule that each number is equal to the sum of the preceding two numbers. Since, technically, the first line in a Fibonacci poem with n = 0 has no syllables, I always consider my title as the zero entry, though some consider it to be just a moment of silence right before the initial line of the poem.

Fib is an experimental Western poetry form, bearing similarities to haiku, but based on the Fibonacci sequence. That is, the typical fib and one version of the contemporary Western haiku both follow a strict structure. 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; whereas, the traditional form of contemporary Western haiku uses three lines of no more than 17 syllables in total with syllable counts of 5/7/5. The only restriction on a Fib is that the syllable count follow the Fibonacci sequence. Because the lines have ever-increasing syllables, the composition of long Fibonacci poems is very challenging. As a result, most have only six or seven lines. So, my challenge to you is to compose a Fib of at least six lines, or longer if you would like, on any topic, and make sure to follow the syllable counts. I’ve found that creating good line breaks in spite of the somewhat restricting syllable counts per line is key to figuring out this form and using it to your advantage.

Below is my example for you entitled “Rhapsody in You Pt.16 — As If”. It is a slight variation in that it’s a repeating Fib containing three seven-line stanzas, each of which follow the Fibonacci form with syllable counts of 1/1/2/3/5/8/13 in each stanza. Another popular variation is a Fibonacci Spiral poem in which the end mirrors the beginning :)

Have fun with this prompt…& Write On!

Rhapsody in You Pt.16 — As If

After Langston Hughes’ “Desire”

In the dancing dark, no doubt painted in shadows of our mingling limbs intertwined, as if we were grapes on a vine waiting to be picked

we are embers of embrace igniting the black chill of night with molten kisses that travel the trek of our trunks until sound colors

the walls of this naked room with beautiful moans that roam and linger there, as if to unrecite the silent whispers of the stale air.

2021 MDSHall, in collaboration with the Writes of Passage, “forged on the wordwrights’ anvil,” and the Muse Echo Collective, Purveyors of the Poet Tree of Discoursing Drums beating by any dreams necessary.