I’m celebrating today and it’s not all about numbers. They figure strongly in writing the usually short poetry form the Fibonacci poem which is based on the so-called Fibonacci Sequence of numbers.
The latest issue of the world’s leading Fibonacci poetry journal, The Fib Review, is published today in its 25th issue on its 10th anniversary and, yes, my four new Fibs bring my total 66 of poems published by the Fib Review. All these numbers are worth celebrating I think.
It may all look a bit dusty and arithmetical in the diagram but these numbers form a beautiful sequence that can be found in nature, in science, in engineering and, yes, in art. The sequence consists of numbers where each is the sum of the previous two, rising in numerical order and which can be seen in natural shapes made from this ratio of numbers. It is the beauty of the sequence that has tempted poets to use the sequence as a way of ordering words and lines in poetry.
I have been writing Fibonacci poetry for eight years now by counting the syllables in each line so that the lines correspond to the sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. Until now, I’ve never dared to go any higher in the numerical order but in two of my new poems I have added 55 syllable lines. I’m delighted that they are to be included in the new publication of The Fib Review. Take a look, not just for my new poems but for the fascinating variations on the form achieved by all the other poets, from all over the world, published there:
http://www.musepiepress.com/fibreview/index.html
The Fibonacci Sequence is credited to the Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci who was also known as Fibonacci. He introduced this ancient Asian sequence into Western Europe in the 13th Century and it has fascinated mathematicians, scientists, artists, engineers and poets ever since.
