Writing Poems in Fibonacci Sequence

Every spring since 2001, Karren Alenier, a.k.a. the Steiny Road Poet, has been teaching poetry workshops in Arlington Virginia elementary schools. It’s a seasonal job she loves, getting to meet class after class of young poets with fabulous names like Rabia, Yabsera, Anamitra, Xavier, Liana, Mayari, Maddie, Sophia, etc.

Recently she taught poetry workshops where math and science played a role. She introduced Fibonacci numbers and then had students write what she called a Fibonacci verse. She told the students it was similar to haiku. In haiku, the poem is constructed in three lines with a syllable count of five, seven, five. In Fibonacci verse, the lines follow Fibonacci sequence starting with syllable counts of 1 and ending possibly with 8, though longer lines are possible. Just to review Fibonacci sequence:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.

Here’s an example:

WOODY SPIRALS OF A PINECONE:

COUNTING IN FIBONACCI NUMBERS

 (1)Math

 (1)makes

 (2)for found

 (3)poetry

 (5)specifically

 (8)what is counted in natural

(13)growing patterns—like woody spirals of a pinecone—

(21)zero and one to start; 0+1=1; 1 plus 1, 2; 1 and 2, 3;

(34)2+3=5; 3+5, 8; 5+8, 13; 8+13, 21; 13+21, 34; and so on

At the Patrick Henry Elementary School, the students of Ms. Tammy John were so enthusiastic about the workshop, they wrote a group poem (a variation on the Fibonacci verse) after the Steiny Road Poet left and then they sent her a huge thank you card signed with all their wonderful names.

…….....................MOON

 …….....................Bright
 ……...................And shiny
…….................Seen at night
……...............Different phases
............The many whitish gray craters
Looking like a sweet old man smiling happily down

When one student asked what Fibonacci numbers had to do with poetry, the Steiny Road Poet said it was all about patterns and that writing a Fibonacci verse was much like solving a puzzle. This explanation seemed very satisfying to those students who thought they could not write a poem.