Saturday, April 01, 2006

The Fib

One
Small,
Precise,
Poetic,
Spiraling mixture:
Math plus poetry yields the Fib.

What’s that, you ask? That’s the very first Fib I wrote. What’s a Fib? Well, first a little backstory….

At the 2005 SCBWI-LA Writer’s Day, poet-novelist Ron Koertge mentioned the idea of “warming up” each day by writing haiku. To paraphrase what he said, writing haiku keeps you in tune with the importance of word choice and how you can say so much with so little… with the goal being that subconsciously you will continue to be aware of both points whenever and whatever you write.

I was intrigued, but my geeky mind immediately began to churn. Why just haiku? I wanted something that required more precision. That led me to a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8 – the classic Fibonacci sequence. In short, start with 0 and 1, add them together to get your next number, then keep adding the last two numbers together for your next one. It’s a wonderful sequence, and it’s one that is repeated in nature (most famously in nautilus shells). Heck, some folks use it in knitting and music,… and, as much as I’d like to say I invented a new form of poetry, these sequences have been part of various poetic structures since before Fibonacci’s time. However, "the Fib" is my take on the idea, complete with a wicked cool name, if I say so myself.

I’ve found writing Fibs helpful, as they really do make me conscious of word choice in everything I write (which is particularly critical in my poetry, picture book manuscripts, and e-mails to Mom). Also, I’ve found kids respond well to the form, especially when they hear that “Ewww. Worms.” can be 1/3 of their poem. So, I think it’s time for the Fib to gain more exposure.

In another post, I’ll talk more about various Fib rules and guidelines and subsets (like Fibs that tell fibs!), but for now, I’m curious to hear what you think or see if any of you want to try your hand at writing Fibs … and hoping you all want to join me in spreading Fibbery around the web/in classrooms/wherever.

This
Post
Is now
Completed,
So, I gotta book.
See you all on the comments page.

(There are wonderful Fibs in the comments here, and if you look to the right you'll find links to other posts with even more Fibbery (such as the post cleverly named More Fibbery.) If you head on up to the top of the blog you'll find new Fibbish links, too. In short, feel free to poke around... and don't be shy about telling a Fib or two.)

(And now another update: a book deal (and that's no fib!))

(The BIG update: The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. - the novel that came to life because of this post - is now available wherever books are sold!)

392 comments:

1 – 200 of 392   Newer›   Newest»
Greg Pincus said...

Please
Leave
Comments.
You’ll answer
Pink Floyd’s great question:
Is there anybody out there?

Anonymous said...

Yup! Found you from your Fuse#8 comment....I don't blog so I can't link....but you are now on my "Favorite Blogs" to check each day. Need to get a coffee to sit and get to know you - your've written so much and I have arrived at the party a little late!
(not a blogger, but hopefully not a lurker....what else can I be?)

Anonymous said...

pink
rocks!
you are
my favorite wordsmith.
(Fibs, however, are not worthy)

Greg Pincus said...

What else can you be? Participant! (Hmmm, I coulda written this as a Fib, but I haven't had my coffee yet, either). Welcome to the blog and come back anon, anon.

Greg Pincus said...

And hello anonymous2 (electric boogaloo). You have a fantastic start to a Fib, and even though your syllables start to veer off the path of 112358ishness, I so love your sentiment that I don't mind. Thanks for the comment!

Anonymous said...

Hi
Cuz
Tres cool
This will be
Most fun to try with
Jess, the verbal wordsmith at home.
Must stop now and get some work done before kids wake up.
Amazing (to me) people saw your site in the first hours after posting (must be night owls).

see you at Passover, xoxo L.

Kelly said...

Not enough coffee yet to try a fib, but must stop in to say "very cool"

Anonymous said...

Should
All
Comments
Be written
In the form of Fibs?
Enquiring minds would like to know.

Greg Pincus said...

Nah, all comments needn't be Fibbish. They can be, of course, as I'd love to see a body of Fibbery built up, but I'm interested in anything folks have to say about the Fib in concept, in practice, or in spreadability.

Anonymous said...

Wow!
I
Love this
Idea.
I always wanted
Permission to tell fibs in school.

Anonymous said...

GK......Have wasted at least an hour trying to compose an impressive FIBonesque masterpiece...with no luck.....sigh..
And duty now calls me elsewhere.....BUT I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

It's
tough..
Just two...
Even three..
But five?.. Eight?.. Enough!!
Thirteen I think I"ll try to do.
Would give me five more spaces to write down much more fluff!!

Impressed, GK ?? I won't tell you how much time that cost...gg..AND came out with rhyming scheme fatally flawed..... After I proudly wrapped it up, I noticed.......horrors.....I had failed to include the "three line."

My decision long ago not to risk my future on a career in writing ...writing anything....fully vindicated!

By the way, I am a frequent user of Fibonnacis in analyzing stock trends...a snap compared to what you're now introducing. And besides, made even simpler by using my trusty old calculator......

Anonymous said...

George,
make
my day
say you want
to retire away
from all those hacks on the beltway
deep in the brush in the hush of the discreet mesquites
to contemplate your legacy
nevermore to make
war on them
or us
or
rove

Greg Pincus said...

Whoa, Max. You've written actual POETRY there. Now, it's not a Fib as I'd defined it, but it's Fibonacci poetry (more specifically, in its stacked form. Tetractys is another short, stackable form, for those who care. When I start talking about my rules and guidelines... well, yours still will rock.

MC, that's also a fine effort! Mixing math in is a great idea. Probably a whole subset of Fibbery. Again, that line of 13 shows how hard it is to do a complete thought in 20 syllables... which I only point out cuz I really do use Fibs as I mentioned in my post. That said, I am LOVING that folks are writing here. MORE, I say!

Anonymous said...

Fib?
No,
No way-
Never I!
I would never lie.
Unless it was a little fib!


oooo word play
did i get it right?

Anonymous said...

I
hate
poets.
Really, I
want to kill them and
bathe in their warm blood and entrails.

[Just saw Slither last night....]

Anonymous said...

Word
Freaks

Like Fibs.
No surprise,
They've posted a few.
Any other Fib sightings yet?

Anonymous said...

Fibs Are Easy as Pi
Pi Day came;
i
took a deep breath
and
a circle i squared
then put a few remaining digits
aside
for my evening repast


(to be continued...)

Anonymous said...

Spike,
Blonde
Vampire.
Burned, smacked, chipped.
Nugatory much?
That's okay, we all still love you.

Anonymous said...

Funny and interesting... I used to write haiku's for my dog, until she became very irritated by them and would leave the room, scowling back at me on the way out....then I realized I was being sacrilegious because it was too many worship words in one sequence. All dogs are theologic literalists, I think.

Here is a Fib for a canine....

Walk
Park
Cookie
Wanna play?
Go fetch your frisbee
Gonna take a ride to the beach



Mad.

Greg Pincus said...

Excellent Fibbery here today. Jessie, you did get it right. Jim, I only play a poet on my blog, so go after that Max Entropy character, as THAT is a poet. And I love writing poetry for pets. Thanks to all who posted comments today. Let's see what tomorrow brings....

Anonymous said...

Disclosure
I'm
no
poet;
i only
play one on teevee
so write me a screenplay would you?

Greg Pincus said...

Spec
Script
For sale!
Who's buying?
Please, Mr. Speilberg...
Mr. Cameron.... Anyone?

Florence Yoo said...

wake
up
sunny
sweet relief
from bitter winter
dark days conduit renewal

Anonymous said...

As a former engineering major and math geek, but with a life-long interest in books and reading and poetry, I have to say that I do find fibs appealing.

In honor of the recent and unusual weather in Northern CA, here's my contribution:

Rain,
Rain,
More rain,
Slate gray skies,
Sullen and squall-filled.
All I ask is to see blue sky.

Not high art, but it did make me feel a little better.

Thanks also for the feedback on Frank Asch's books. Anything that makes a link for reluctant readers is good news to me!

Anonymous said...

Spring
back,
they said...
or forward ??
As I lie in bed,
I think best to wait a bit and listen for a bird!

GK..Sorry to subject you to this monstrosity.....Determined to make a "contribution"..!!??

Anonymous said...

Oh
Cool
How neat!
I have to
teach this to my kids
Who are not poets yet but like math!


Thanks for a great post! I found you through the carnival and I'll be back!

Greg Pincus said...

As promised, I have put up a post with some rules and guidelines and subsets. Though as I say there, the key thing is simply to WRITE. And to send me cookies, of course. Or any chocolate.

Anonymous said...

I
Fib
You Fib
We all Fib.
What I want to know
Is how do I get some ice cream?

Anonymous said...

Whole
notes
delay
full measure.
Procrastinating
hemidemisemiquaver!

Anonymous said...

In a mathematical vein:-

grad
div
vector
partial
Laplacian, maths
differential application

Anonymous said...

This
Fib
Has one
Mistake, that
It does not really
Have any mistakes at all!

Anonymous said...

Math,
Makes,
My head,
Quake with pain.
Writing a poem based
On Fibonacci, does the same.

__
Write My Essay

Anonymous said...

These
Poems:
Truly
Pedantic
Methodology.
Extremely restrictive process.

Anonymous said...

Not directly related to Fibonacci, however two years ago I wrote a poetry book entitled "Algoritmi" (is in Italian...), all related to computer science, from hard disks to Turing' theorem.

Anonymous said...

I've
never
been much
good at this,
but here's my feeble
attempt at writing a Fib. Hmm.


An excellent idea, and there are some really impressive Fibs here. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Pi.
Pie.
The same?
Different?
One is infinite,
The other is pastry covered.

Nice poetry format, but way too hard to write!

Anonymous said...

Dead
Man's
Millions
4-1-9
Desperate spammer
African dictator's wife

Anonymous said...

Blood,
Sweat,
And tears,
Made this Fib.
And for what purpose?
Just a fanciful waste of time,
Procrastination is a wonderful friend to me!

Is an '-ion' suffix considered 1 or 2 syllables? I'm assuming 1...if it is considered 2 then substitute 'wonderful' with 'special' or similar ;)

Anonymous said...

I
for
one welcome
our slashdot overlords

:)

Yewtree said...

new poetic form:
the spiral sequence unfolds
recombining genes.

Anonymous said...

this
is
far more
geeky than
another haiku.

Anonymous said...

Shit
is
what you
make of it.
Try to avoid it.
If not, clean up the mess you make.

Anonymous said...

Who?
Who?
I ask.
Would write Fibs?
Not he, she, or we.
Just I can not stop trying to.
Hands, stop continuing to type in longer word strings!

Anonymous said...

one,
one,
two seeds,
three more in
the next, neat row,
together chasing the sun.

I taught a guy how to write a recursive function in C to calculate the Fib sequence just the other day...

gordon mei said...

Those
are
the best
twenty beats
I have ever seen
in the name of Fibonacci.

Anonymous said...

Short
One.

Anonymous said...

- yes
- no
- maybe
- that is all
- the only choices
- more than to be or not to be
- less than the multiple choice test we took yesterday
- binary versus trinary versus quadrinary is the current great debate
- where will you stand when the choice comes for you? with tested binary, new but simlar trinary, or with funky 4d quadrinary

Anonymous said...

One
One
Two more
And then three
At five syllables -
almost done. Eight for the finish

Anonymous said...

They
come
in great
masses now
You are slashdoted
Enjoy more fibs than expected


:)

werner said...

Tool's James Maynard Keenan did this on Lateralus (the song) on Lateralus (the album) in 2001.
The sequence here is by the syllables in the words (not the words themselves).
The phrasing of how it is sung highlights the sequence.

The opening lyrics are:

black
then
white are
all I see
in my infancy
red and yellow then came to be
reaching out to me
let's me see

ooohh...

Anonymous said...

Sing
Me
A song,
A perfect
Rhythmic analogue
Of a Fibonacci sequence.

Anonymous said...

Life
Love
Have they
Fled from me?
And will they return?
And can I bear the solitude?

Anonymous said...

Is
My
Penis
Big Enough
Or Do I Need To
Consider Plastic Surgery?

Anonymous said...

So
Long
and Thanks
for all the
Fish, our dear Douglas.
Such shame, in the scheme of things,
forty-two is not in the Fibonacci sequence.

Anonymous said...

cold.
dark.
alone.
Excellent!
This nerdy form
can still be totally emo

GSai said...

A
Fib
Newly
Attempted:
Mood siesta now
Fibonacci laughing aloud!
Poets would love this: a song that any professor
Would listen to and approve sure
And, the studious
Write now a…
Poem!
A
Fib!

Anonymous said...

Palindrome version. (It's early, best I could do...)

God,
all!
It's fib,
version A.
Edit idea...
No! Is rev B, if still a dog.




Fake Palindrome version just for grins...


I
See
Can o'
bi "F-words".
Back till EPS
spell it backwards - fibonacci

- Ed P. Smith (EPS)

Anonymous said...

Hey -- this is really cool. I'm an English teacher and plan to try this with my students -- how should I credit you?

Anonymous said...

This

form

forces

fine feelings

into abstruse lines

each longer longing to affix

a meaning to creations made live by febrile minds

and for this new spring trick I thank both you and SlashDot. Well done. Though if continued cumbersome.

Anonymous said...

Hare.
Hare.
They mate.
Now there's three.
Mate again, now five.
And again, now there's eight bunnies.
[Now thirteen bunnies, and counting. Mom will be pissed off.]

Anonymous said...

On the Scifaiku list we have been enjoying these for years on such subjects as alien coded transmissions.

Tim said...

Ok, here's my attempt...


A
Pen
It falls
And forms words
It bleeds, constant and continuous
A mark upon a perfect sheet of white

Tim

Anonymous said...

Rest.
Sleep.
Awake.
It's nap time.
I need to sleep in.
Is it Saturday morning yet?

Kathleen Fasanella said...

the fibonacci sequence is also the foundation of how apparel is sized (called "grading"). The rules governing grading practices are based on the sequence.

Anonymous said...

We!
Are!
Your Friends!
You'll never
be alone again! Well come on!

Anonymous said...

Why?
Why?
Would You
Write a poem
Having syllables
Matching Fibonacci's Numbers?
I can only think that there is something wrong with you!

Anonymous said...

Peace,
Love,
Yogurt,
Granola:
The hippie credo.
It helps me recall the 60's.

Anonymous said...

un
jour
encore
et toujours
à passer ici
cet endroit m'ennuie et m'endort
je ne pense qu'à le fuir car le travail m'abrutit

...and its translation:

one
day
again
forever
I got to spend here
this place is boring and sleepy
Dreaming about getting out because work alienates


hi from France,
deep

Anonymous said...

Place
Seed
In soil.
Add water.
Wait for a few days.
Germination turns seed to sprout.

Anonymous said...

deep
love
delights
my senses
as the subtle light
that unveils your spiritual grace

AR said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Why?
How?
Easy.
Just start slow
Add a few more words
Then, sir, you have yourself a Fib

nela_05 said...

Can
I
write a
good poem
with this structuring
or is it too hard to construct

Anonymous said...

Hullo. Here via livejournal.

There
Is
Nothing
For those who
Refuse delusions
Of joy; but pain, spite unending.

I loved making it far more than I like making haikus. Thanks for the creation.

Andrew said...

1/1/2/3/5/8

HALT!
HALT!
Oh no!
A riddle
that cannot be solved.
Burn in hell vile halting problem!

Matt said...

for
God
so loved
this sick world
that He sent His Son
who died, that we might become clean
and lives forever, that we might be saved from God's wrath

Anonymous said...

anyone wrote a program to write a fib ?

Anonymous said...

Poor
Fib.
A poet,
And didn't know it.

Anonymous said...

black,
blue,
yellow,
magenta,
these are the colors
that printers find are best combind.

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting - even for an architect. The Fibonnachi sequence is actually one of many types of formal grammer or 'linquistic architectures' also known as a Lindenmayer system. This idea could spark a myriad of new compositional aestetics.

Anonymous said...

I
Write
A Fib.
Must I wash
Off my hands with soap?
Better than a spoken Fib, eh?

Anonymous said...

We go,
sometimes,
down to the park
to feed the ducks some bread
but when we run out of food they get mad

2/2/4/6/10
Its still a fib =]
-nexxuz

Anonymous said...

Just
My
Humble
Addition
To a strange new form.
More intruiging than other prose
But I think you should admit one more line for effect.

Anonymous said...

Is
This
New form
Some kind of
New English haiku
Or is it universal (math)?

Anonymous said...

In
Self
Ref'rence
I will spend
This space because it's
Math and math just loves itself so.

Anonymous said...

To
Make
A Fib:
Boil two
quarts water and add
some words. Is it al dente yet?

Anonymous said...

Her

heart

beating,

I felt truth

in the soft rhythm,

I toiled with grace and purity.

Immortality, it seams, takes refuge in numbers.

Anonymous said...

Ah!
Look!
How strange.
A graph grows
On the line edges
It looks vaguely exponential
(Of course I know it's not, how could it be? But still, Look!)

Anonymous said...

Baby Fib
(in honor of my sister who's first baby is due today)

now?
soon?
baby
anytime.
excited fam, friends
don't mean to bug you but...still do!

Anonymous said...

A fib 404 message in the public domain:

This
Page
Is not.
404
You'll find nothing here
You'd better just click "back"-- move on.

Jen said...

who's?
whose.
(yes, mine)
please ignore
my grammer error
in my previous post, dammit.

Anonymous said...

one

hard,

rocking,

pulsing beat

brings me to my feet

leads me to what Ive forgotten

pristine in reccolection but now smells all rotten

I see the beach, i see the trees, i smell the sea and feel sand on my knees but i know

Deep down I know but do you? the world isnt round and the sky isnt blue, the schools are not safe and the air is not clean, the news isnt true

so what do we do… Let the old boys club dictate how its run, liberate a nation

hurt them for fun. desensitized to fear, blood and pain

But it doesnt look like they won

the world is not dumb

complacent

maybe

so

sad

-- quoted from brainpron.net

Anonymous said...

I
want
to be
all the things
my mother said I
couldn't be in my own life time.

Jen said...

you
I
would think
that I'd learn--
grammar with two A's!
hasty perfectionist...slow down.

Anonymous said...

Write
Line
By Line
Poetry
It’s Fibonacci
Mathematical Syllables

Anonymous said...

need
one
hour
to compose
an impressive fib
to rival all, with no luck, sigh...



thanx, mc, you had one there....

Mike said...

Hey
I
posted
a nice fib
where the hell is it?

Anonymous said...

oh
say
can you
see any
bedbugs on me? Dumb
songs seem to live longer than most
real poems. Why do I recall that but not true prose?

Gaz said...

Saw
Fibs
On a
Site I love
Now I'm stuck fibbing
And I can't seem to stop at all.

Anonymous said...

I'm
not
really
qualified
to wrangle numbers
to or to comment on perfection

Anonymous said...

dust
clot
gathers.
my keyboard
is like a desert.
the oasis is the off switch.

Anonymous said...

Excellent idea! In response --

3 Consider
1 Pi:
4 That delightful
1 Thing --
5 The ratio of
9 Circumference to diameter

I have long appreciated the benefits of writing within rigorous boundaries.

http://99words.livejournal.com/

Hawthorn Thistleberry said...

Wait...
No!
Haiku,
Senryu,
Are not congruent!
(Practice poetic pedantry!)

Fibs,
form?
content?
All should have
element from set
of all possible math concepts.

Anonymous said...

For
Us
Strange, odd
People who
Like to play with words,
Fibs are a perfect time-waster!

This should keep my family busy for weeks - thanks!

CarynW

Anonymous said...

tick
tock
moving
slower; now
time is standing still
while I wait for you to join me
take this bitter pill
from me now
fleeting;
locks
click

Anonymous said...

1 I
1 Think
2 to try
3 a long Fib
5 of epic wording
8 meta-syntactic self-ref'rence
13 is it too much to do in this way of self-rev'rence?
21 one word upon the next upon the sum of words to carry the text upon the Fib
34 The challenge, they say, is in the choice of words when given so few or strict a guide on which to place the words that must follow the sequence of Fib
55 But now does this even qualify as poetry as aesthetic as beauty or as only an exercise in numbers and letters and sounds and phoenems reaching and reaching to be heard by someone with nothing else to do
89 And now as the Fibonachi sequence explodes above a hundred, my Fib crumbles on its last line and thought or will and testament with a sigh or a gasp the deed is done and is nothing but on the page to sit and wollow in a joyous agony of an undead state of completion and of no relief to ever be completele and gone from all minds

That became kind of unintentionally morbid...sorry. I also feel I've somehow cheated...if you pronounce reference and reverence as three syllables, remove "self-"?

Anonymous said...

Why
does
Dubya
keep lying
Even though we have found him out?

Anonymous said...

Why
does
Dubya
keep slinging
Bulls*it on Iraq
Even though we have found him out?

Anonymous said...

William Shatner would be proud...

Anonymous said...

I
am
not so
wonderful
as a manager.
my skills need some development.
I was once a geek,
that was cake
compared
to
this.

Anonymous said...

This idea is awesome - I'm going to be putting a lot up on a friend's online newspaper (my name is linked, but I'm not sure about the advertising policy here so no in-text link) on the next update, linking back here and giving credit of course. Here are the ones I've got so far:

This
is
a Fib.
Not a lie.
A poem made of
The great Fibbonacci sequence.

Yet
again
I try
to make a
passable poem.
I hope this one wasn't too bad.

Now
for
something
completely
different. I will
Attempt to make a longer Fib.
Thirteen on this line! Can I one-up this? I think so!

So
I
will try
an even
longer Fib poem.
Eight syllables are on this line!
Can you tell that I'm running out of good ideas?
Not that, I suppose, any of the ideas were good to begin with. TWENTY-ONE!

Now
the
true test.
Can I write
A Fib that isn't
completely self-referential?

Now!
Go!
Escape
to freedom!
We are trapped in this.
Run, try to fly, and soar so far.
Only to fall back,
receeding
into
this
void.

Michele said...

Oh
my
brain hurts
and it is
too late to play this
game. Help me !
I'm off
to
bed !

Did I get that right ? Words are my thing, not numbers !! Chicken Spaghetti sent me here...

Anonymous said...

A
Rose
Is red
Violet blue
And isn't math cool

Anonymous said...

look
found
great page
to look at
you admire this work
while you sit at your cubicle

theunicycleguy said...

one
more
season
biking and
eating tacos with
friends on the TNR bike ride!


TNR Stands for the Thursday Night Ride!

Anonymous said...

George
Bush,
you seek
to destroy
civil liberties
while pandering to the right-wing.

Anonymous said...

A
New
Meter
Poetic.
These words pathetic
Pay homage to Fib aesthetic.

Anonymous said...

Fib
O
Nacci
Sequence fun.
Find the golden mean
As the ratio converges.

Anonymous said...

Spock...
Bones...
Scotty...
Uhura!
Must. Get. Shields! Back. Up.
Lungs. Constricting. No time! To. Move.

Greg Pincus said...

Fantastic! And there's Fibbing all over the Web. Here's today's post with links to some places where Fibbery has been spotted.

Fibs
Live!
Hooray!

Anonymous said...

haiku is old hat.
fibonacci is more fun!
form without limit


start
small,
adding
syllables
as needed to make:
fibbinoci based poetry

Anonymous said...

oops. That last fib should have said:


start
small,
adding
syllables
as needed to make:
fibbinoci based poetry
(even if fibonacci gets spelled incorrectly)

Anonymous said...

God?
Yes
It's me
I know, son
Will I see you soon?
Not before you finish your work
That's a relief - do you think it's going well so far?
You asked for wisdom, you asked to be helpful - so far you've done well. Don't forget the love...

Anonymous said...

I
have
trouble
with Haiku
but Fibonacci
is a format this geek can grok.

Anonymous said...

i wrote one of these years ago,,a bit longer though

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
poem for fibonacci
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...

fold,

change,

construct

it molds you

your eyes won't open

your movements can not change it's shape

your thoughts can not help but to mimic it's symmetry

it is beyond your time to see it unfolding like a flower to greet the new dawn

slowly releasing petal after petal of coded information into the fluxus state of temporal reality's spiral

Anonymous said...

Comes
Falls
Away
Infinite
Once touched turns to mist
Will we encounter it again?

Time crashes past with whirring noise
Or slips silently
But we’ll see
One day
Soon
Life

Light
Peace
Healing
Redemption
Time lost found again
Memories restored properly

We see the truth of who we were
And have all the time
In the world
And more
Soon
Home

Anonymous said...

This is

an alternative

to the normal fibbery:

Instead of two first lines of one syllable each,

this one starts with two syllables and continues with five in the second line.

Nice idea you think? Just go and try to count the syllables of this sixth line without getting completely dizzy in the head!

Anonymous said...

The
first
only one
the second is
one but the next is two then three
to five and eight and thirteen and to infinity…

Anonymous said...

I think this fits in the "fibbing Fib" category.

I call it "Egyptian River"

Thoughts;
Dreams.
Lustful
Fantasies.
Do you think of me?
Because I never think of you.

Anonymous said...

Bit of pop culture:

Coat.
Ears.
Tardis.
Time travel.
Golden light shines forth.
Ninth gives way to tenth. Fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Greg:

I posted 3 fibs here yesterday and i can't find any of them...were they removed for some reason? :(

Anonymous said...

I don't know about fibs being "more precise" than haiku--the classical haiku involves more than just counting syllables.

Anonymous said...

Nescient: Look here: http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2006/04/more-fibbery.html

Anonymous said...

oops.. that wasn't readable??

http://gottabook.blogspot.com
/2006/04/more-fibbery.html

Anonymous said...

For Max Entropy....

Dems,
Libs,
Cry cry
like children
who will not share toys
or adults who can not lose fair
Florida? Hanging chads? Impeach? Why? Clinton deceives.
What action was taken to punish fibbing receiver of extramarital sex?

Anonymous said...

First
time.
Awkward
and clumsy.
And painful for her.
The next time it was pure heaven.

Anonymous said...

yes
no
mabye
our sins sent
Jesus to the cross
and Judas was a loyal friend.
We now seek to know "what is truth?"
A new plot twist! Has anybody asked Jesus yet?

Anonymous said...

it
used
to be
avant-garde
this malice for bush
there was a time when it was news
but now please do try
think harder
for your
black
sheep

Anonymous said...

-World
-is
-warming.
-We must stop
-polluting it so.
-Switch to cleaner sources for fuel.
-Conserve, recycle, and reuse are ways we can help.
-If not us, who will save it then?
-Not our children for
-it will be
-surely
-too
-late.

Suresh Venkatasubramanian said...

Great idea. here's a geometric poem

Anonymous said...

Why?

Why?

I ask:

Would we try?

Making poems from math.

What a silly idea, that.

But then again, maybe it's really quite fun to try.

The problem, I suppose, is that the sentences have a way of getting really long.

I guess if you are sufficiently geekly, though, one might forgive such a minor problem and revel in the hugeness of what then results.

I mean, seriously, though, at some point it gets really long and we have some sort of problem properly displaying: should I indent the subsequent “lines” as this single line wraps, or trust that people understand what I meant?

Anonymous said...

What is this
?
no
this ain't no fib
but
count the syllables
can you see me weaving the pattern?
not hard
if you know what you are
looking, staring at
(can you tell
i'm from israel?)

Hey, that was easy! Now for e^x...

Anonymous said...

You,
Cuz,
Amaze
and excite
thousands of people!
Congrats and keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Nice job, Kelly!
Hid your Fib out in the open and not one reader noticed it.

Anonymous said...

If a fib can be hidden so easily, is it really poetry? What is prose?

I
must
admit,
it is fun.
Moreover, it can
be more than somewhat addictive.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I
Think
I'll try
A short Fib,
I'm telling the truth.
Don't believe me? I just wrote it!

Anonymous said...

Uhm...
Where...
I mean...
Which one is...
What I meant was, why...
Oh nevermind, this is too hard.

Kinda lame, I know...but dang this is fun.

Anonymous said...

Pool.
Yard.
My room.
The garbage.
Oh to hell with it!
I'm running away...I hate chores!

Anonymous said...

I
can't
stop this
thing inside
it wants to get out
no reason to hide from the Fib

Anonymous said...

At the Pub, A Fib

Oh!
My!
Home I've
Forgotten.
My brain so sodden:
A call, my wife will soon arrive.

Anonymous said...

Whoa,
Freep.
That is
way too cool.
You are the father,
the father of Fibinocci.
Don’t let grand success inflate your big, fat hirsute head—
else we may be looking at a spectacularly hairy cranial explosion.

Bourgeoisophobus said...

One

Two

Me, you.

Three and four --

Have we met before?

Eight: Great. Let's go out on a date.

Thirteen: Keen -- oops. Bummer. That's one unlucky number.

Twenty-one: Not much fun. But still, I could go on -- and go on, and go on, on, on, on...

Richard Koman said...

I just finished by CrimLaw midterm, so here is one along those lines:

Crime
Pays.
A number
of lawyers agree;
not all are prosecutors.

Richard Koman said...

"Crime
Pays,"
some say.
A number
of lawyers agree;
not all are prosecutors.

Anonymous said...

I was downstairs when...

I
read
the Times.
Wrote this fib.
So what do you think?
Should I try to write another?

My houseguest was upstairs when...

She
saw
herself
reflected
in the looking glass
and ran screaming from the bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Oh
Dear
Something
Seems to be
Crawling up my leg.
Fibonacci, you dirty dog!

Anonymous said...

fib
or
ad lib
can it be
that such measured lines
please extemporaneously?

apg

Anonymous said...

When
I
was young
I wanted
to prove a theorem
that brought fame and fortune to me


But
now
I am
near fifty
and I have found peace
and maybe a little lemma

maggie moran said...

Read!
Read!
Pick up
book and read!
Mississippi read!
Let's Stop Brunt of Joke Harrassment...

Alan Labouseur said...

How
'bout
"fibbing"
in Billiards?
Here are the game rules:

Place the 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13 balls on the table, racked in a triangle. Players shoot at the balls in sequence, like in 9-ball. However, since this is Fibonacci billiards, the 1 ball must be sunk twice. When a player sinks it the first time, that player gets to pull it back out and place the ball anywhere on the table before the next player takes a turn. (That player does not get to immediately shoot again.) This way the player who first sinks the 1 ball can use some strategy against the other player(s). After the 1 ball is sunk the second time, the game continues in sequence.

Henry Gould said...

Bud,
stem,
and then
the petals...
soon a sunflower
joins the fibonacci parade.

Anonymous said...

Fib Obsessed:

Here's a start...seven lines
and rhyming is more taxing...

1.SLEEP
1.SNORE
2.DAD ROAR
3.MOMMY SAYS
5.OUT! BIG BED NO MORE
8.SNORING LEADS TO MARITAL WAR.
13.WOE IS ME. OFTEN SORE. TOO MANY NIGHTS ON THE FLOOR.

Tad Richards said...

Perhaps you shouldn't try to write Fibonacci poems while listening to Fats Domino:

Ooh
Wee
Baby
Oo-oo-wee
Baby don’t you let
Ooh, don’t you let your dog bite me

BTW, your word verification for the moment is bwymovca -- is this a secret message to me to forget Broadway, and move to California?

Anonymous said...

Ah
bon...
Je ne suis
pas la première
personne qui a écrit un "Fib"
en la langue française. Cependant, je l'ai essayée!

(Oh well...I'm not the first person who wrote a "Fib" in French. However--I tried!)

Anonymous said...

Title: It's no "fib.."

MAY!
PLAY!
Nubou
Uematsu
In Chicagoland
www.play-symphony.com http://www.play-symphony.com

Anonymous said...

Oh
Oh
Freedom!
Ecstasy
Where poetry's path
Co-mingles betimes with sweet math

Simon said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Simon said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Simon said...

Spam Fibonacci Poetry

Stock
Buy
Invest
Dollar falls
Great portfolio
Education is not needed

My other comments

Anonymous said...

Here's a Fib that works only if you pronounce Porsche correctly -- Por-sha, not Porsch.

New
Car
Porsche
Yesterday.
Just can't wait until
September when we pick her up!

Anonymous said...

Sal-
u-
tations,
screenwriter
extra-ordinaire
Greg Pincus of Alley Cats Strike

Tabitha Dial said...

I
dig
this stuff.
Fib concept
is now in my book
of poetic forms, so thank you!

And
my
friend rocks--
He saw this
blog and knew I would
have a blast playing with this form.

Anonymous said...

this
is
bullshit
however -
infectious, so thanks!

GUAGUAU said...

UAHU 196 COMENTARIOS INCREIBLE GOOD POST

Anonymous said...

In the spirit of neoporcupine's fib (then again, this might be a bit too spammy):

Need
Meds?
Lifestyle
drugs online.
Herbal Viagra,
Cialis Soft Tabs. Fast Discreet.

Anonymous said...

Ode to Caffeine

Give
Me
Coffee
to wake up.
This is the morning
I set out to conquer the world.

Anonymous said...

Drip
Drop
No mop
Rain won't stop
Holes in the rooftop
Soon we will have an indoor pool

Sam said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sam said...

Bread
with butter
is better
for tastebuds and soul
than unnatural margerine

Anonymous said...

GK, look what you've started!
Super concept. Hmmm, let's try...
-----------
now
dark
the cave
oppressive
revelation path
discoveries of fearful truth
deeply buried beneath petty pointless platitudes
-----------

Anonymous said...

In
your
Easter
bonnet with
all the frills upon
it, no chance it stays on your head.

Anonymous said...

An Easter Fib

Eggs
Peeps
Bunny
Where is the chocolate?
The big guy is gone and we live.

Anonymous said...

oops!
Forgot a line and revised a little.

Egg
Peep
Bunny
Chocolate
Full basket of sweet
The big guy is gone and we live.

Anonymous said...

Is
This
The best
Use of time?
Doubtless I could be
Better employed in Suduko

Anonymous said...

The
Time
Has come;
He is here.
Kalki Avatar
Merwan Sheriar Irani

Anonymous said...

The
Bar
Exam
Is known to
Daunt even the most
Assiduous young aspirant!

Anonymous said...

The
Bar
Exam
Is known to
Daunt even the most
Assiduous young aspirant!

Anonymous said...

That
you
would so
read this thing
and be moved by it
shows the simple power of words.

Anonymous said...

The
gift
that keeps
on giving--
document review!
Lord, please don't let it ever end!

ricklibrarian said...

No
Food
Today.
Our church is
Fasting for Darfur.
When will the world wake up to this?

Anonymous said...

Ahh!! Fibonacci and the golden ratio(1.618....) luv em, they are invariably found every where in nature..the way the flower petals are arranged, the number of cells in honeycomb,the number of seeds in a sunflower and yeah the way your body is designed....:) I call "em GOD'S OWN NUMBER'S...:)

Anonymous said...

Fib

one
plus one
the ram’s horn
curls equals two plus
one equals three a pentangle
eight plus five, thirteen, the morning glory vine coils out
tender green shoots breach sky more heat new light quick nautilus lays out slick chambers excrete
new calcium accretes its self, greater anteroom
the piglet’s tail winds ecstatic
suckling curls clockwork
flagella
beating
home

Anonymous said...

New
York
Times? Shit.
Something's born,
Says a Shakespeare guy
Who has quit writing poetry.

Anonymous said...

NADA FIB

Back

There,

Before

These lines, hides

No, essential, is;

And nonsense called progression.

So too beyond; we regress in

Numbers, grids, attempting wise

Rules on disorder, but

All comes, still, to

This:

HANROD

Mervyn said...

Yea
Whatever

Anonymous said...

What?
Write?
Today?
Something smart?
I don't think I can.
I'll come back tomorrow and ty.

Anonymous said...

Why not an italian Fib? as

io, 1
io 1
solo, 2 convergo 3
alla fragile 5
mera noia della vita, 8
vorrei ridestarmi in altro vero mondo 13
dove io, solo io, potessi calarmi in una pace infinita 21

Anonymous said...

If
I
Begin
Thinking LOVE
My heart opens wide
And I am full of God's pure light.

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