Monday, April 30, 2012

A Fib at month's end

     Have you heard of Fibonacci?  If not, check him out here.  If you have, then you know that there is a pattern of numbers based on the philosopher's mathematical work.  The sequence starts with 0 and 1.  Then you add the two numbers to get the next...0 + 1 = 1, 1 +1= 2, 1 + 2 =3....keep following this pattern and you end up with these numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.  It seems simple at the early stages.  To really challenge yourself, play the Online Fibonacci game.
     Wondering what all of this has to do with poetry?  Well, as you might have guessed, some clever lad figured out a poetry form using the Fibonacci sequence.  Seeing that today is the last day of National Poetry Month, I figured I would give this relatively new form a try.  As I understand it, Greg Pincus first wrote Fibs on his clever blog, Gottabook.  Katie Davis recently spoke about Greg's Fibish work at her blog, http://katiedavis.com.  I am grateful to Janet F. who pointed me in this direction.  Without further pomp, I share with you my fib in honor of National Poetry Month...



Empty Fib
By Melinda Harvey

At
the
end of
poetry 
month, an emptiness
creeps in like sprawling, golden thyme, 
spreading it's robust memory of a fun-filled past.  

     I am very grateful for the handful of you who have visited my blog this month.  It has been a challenge to write a daily poem (except for that one day!) Thank you for the comments and the encouragement.  I am not sure where I will go from here, but I will most definitely be blogging around!
   

3 comments:

  1. What a perfect image. And the word "robust" is fantastic. Way to try yet another form - I've never tried a fib! This was a great challenge, Melinda. Kudos and congratulations on completing the month. I am taking a week off! a.

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  2. Hi Melinda,
    Bravo on your first Fib. I love it. The golden-thyme....did you choose that on purpose? Golden moments of poetry, spreading so much to savor. Like the pervading flavor of a pungent spice, poetry makes everything better. At least to me.
    I have so much to share from IRA. You will get some tips from me soon. Regie Routman was fantastic. I found out some new and very interesting ideas. One in particular uses a structured intervention using art and visual thinking before writing. The work is breath-taking. However it works for all kids and I think defintely something to look into. The strong research results are absolutely amazing. It is the work of Beth Olshansky from U NH. I am sold!!
    Kelly Gallagher was good on mentor texts for HS kids and writing. Got to hear Marilyn Singer, Jane Yolen and J. Pat Lewis read poems and talk about poetry. Sylvia Vardell was a masterful emcee/moderator. I won the "big kahuna" doorprize, an autograhped copy of J. Pat and Jane's new poetry book. Not sure it is out for sale yet. I knew the names of the US Children's Poet Laureates. Only one at the Olio who did. So that was quite nice.
    I will be checking in to see what you may be up to next. I hope you will keep on writing poems!! Maybe you should try Amy's Poetry Hike. Who says poetry deserves only one month?
    Janet F.

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    1. PS
      Please send me an address so I can mail you some info I got about the visual thinking stuff. I will send you the website once I unpack. Please pray for me that I can afford to get on the plane. I fear my suitcase will be overweight!!! I tried not to buy anything, but I succumbed. It is way too hard at IRA to avoid books.

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