Structure

comments 32
My Photography / My Poetry

img_7056_picmonkeyed

a
flaw
sleeps in
the framework

creaking above you

while a minor tilt tilts some more
amid relentless shuddering of rusted spines

the geometry of denial can no longer contain the pandemonium

Fibonacci, 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21
The form, according to Robert Lee Brewer, was developed by Gregory K. Pincus in 2006 based on the mathematical Fibonacci sequence.
“There are variations where the Fibonacci expands even further with each line, but to understand how to accomplish this, you need to understand the Fibonacci math sequence of starting with 0 and 1 and then adding the last two numbers together to add to infinity.
0+1=1
1+1=2
1+2=3
2+3=5
3+5=8
5+8=13
8+13=21
13+21=34
and so on and so forth…”
Since 21 syllables or more are increasingly unwieldy, one can use other variations such as a Fibonacci poem that ascend and descend in syllables: 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 8 – 8 – 5 – 3 -2 – 1 – 1

32 Comments

  1. This is really, really good, Douglas – the layers of structure – within, without, and a photo to boot. In Swahili they have a word for a master craftsman – ‘fundi’. I think that’s you. You know how to use form to make the component parts sing beyond their boundary limitations. There’s something quantum physics-ish here.

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    • when i stumbled upon the form, i immediately took a liking to it…don’t know if the sequence has a particular effect under the surface of the poem, but i like to think it does. 🙂

      Like

  2. Thank you for introducing me to this form.
    I think it’s great, that the intensity of the words increases with the sequence, while seeming to describe the complexity inherent in the sequence.
    Well done.

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    • thanks…i found that engaging the need to have a sizable number of syllables in a particular line can focus the mind on what is trying to be said as engaging the need for only a few syllables in a line (e.g. haiku).

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