Terrance Hayes introduced this poetry style based on a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. I read about it in Robert Lee Brewer’s Smash Poetry Journal. I like it when Lee challenges his readers to try new poetic styles and encourages them to create something different.
The rules of this style of poetry are simple:
· Take a line from a poem you wrote or read
· Use each word in the line as the end word in your new poem
· Keep the end words in order
I’d read a stirring poem by David Hollis on Medium that morning, so I chose this line from the poem as my new poem —
“Imagine if we swam against the tide of popular culture.”
Using each word as an end word, I wrote this new poem.
I hope you enjoyed reading this poetic form. I enjoyed writing it and intend to write more in this style. Have you heard of this style before? I hope you’ll try it out if it’s new to you.
’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
~ Lynne
This poem was originally published on Medium in the publication Koinonia
Gregory K. Pincus founded Fibonacci poetry (The Fib) in 2007. It’s a six-line poem that follows the Fibonacci sequence of plus one extra syllable for each line so that the number of syllables in each line equals the total number of syllables in the preceding two lines.
In a mathematical form, it looks like this: 1/1/2/3/5/8.
Today’s challenge was to carry the Fib further and write a poem of 8 lines, which finishes with the last line being fifty-five syllables long. I’ve enjoyed writing several poems using his book but was tempted to skip this page!
The mathematical form for this is 1/1/2/3/5/8/13/21/34/55.
However, I persevered, and I think I got it right. Please feel free to count the syllables and let me know if I slipped up anywhere. (A sneaky way to gain extra read time there).
I further challenged myself to write it as a continuous sentence. My apologies to editors everywhere.
Here goes.
The Big Fib
The
prompt
today
was to write
a longer poem
using the Fibonacci style
which adds one more syllable to each line that’s written
so that by the time you’ve written the tenth line, you will have a line that has fifty-five
syllables in total in a sequence of an elaborate poetic style that has driven you slightly insane trying to figure
it out and leaves you wondering why you ever made a pact with yourself to do this crazy thing in the first place and what idiotic kind of poem you will end up with when all is said and done — tell me, how did I do?
’Til next time — remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
*(I’m an Amazon affiliate and earn a small commission for book sales at no additional cost to the buyer).
*The Poetry Prompt is from Smash Poetry Journal, by Robert Lee Brewer“Take the phrase ‘I Am (blank)’ and replace the blank with a word or phrase… introspection reflection.”
I planned to write a short, cozy garden mystery for NaNoWriMo. Dutifully, as a plantser (hybrid planner and pantser), I began jotting down notes for possible clues and motives and searching Pinterest to create my annual NaNo board to spur me onward to my goal.
I felt good about my progress when a financial shift occurred out of the blue. We discovered our monthly income was not what we’d received in previous months. The only solution was for me to monetize my writing better.
That meant more writing of what would bring in a return the fastest. As I saw it, I had three options.
1. I could carry on writing my mystery story and hope for a fantastic book launch with considerable sales in three months (experience said, “not likely.”)
2. I could write several ebooks for my Etsy shop with more chances of earlier success.
3. I could write more on Medium and hope I’ve got the algorithm right this month.
Hmmm.
Daunted and confused, I turned to prayer. (I should have started there. Hey, that could be another poem!) It became more apparent that I had not one choice of three options but three options to achieve the same goal collectively.
NaNoWriMo Woes
I had an idea this time to write a mysterious crime with murderous beast five suspects at least and victim appearing deceased.
But life took a turn to the side and all of my notes I did hide. Instead, I did flop facing my laptop and outlined new books for my shop.
Then joy filled each thought as I prayed like I ought and I saw that I could do both. With November’s troth I wrote down a personal oath.
And now Nano’s here and I have no fear. I can write a cozy plus two Etsy ebooks for you. That’s three books in all brand new!
Lynne Collier 