Fib (poetry)

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Fib is an experimental Western poetry form, bearing similarities to haiku, but based on the Fibonacci sequence. That is, the typical fib and one version of the contemporary Western haiku both follow a strict structure. The typical fib is a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8 - with as many syllables per line as the line's corresponding place in the Fibonacci sequence;^[1] the specific form of contemporary Western haiku uses three (or fewer) lines of no more than 17 syllables in total. The only restriction on a Fib is that the syllable count follow the Fibonacci sequence. An example of a typical fib:

“	One Small, Precise, Poetic, Spiraling mixture: Math plus poetry yields the Fib.	„
— Pincus, Gregory K.^[1]

John Frederick Nims discussed the form as early as 1974, in his excellent introduction to poetry, Western Wind. Since then a few poets have attempted the form. For example, here is one by Tony Leuzzi, first published in the 2001 issue of Rhino: The Poetry Forum:

Grouchy Aubade

When
you
entered
the back door
was open, though you
chose to climb in through the window
because you had a notion it would be romantic.

But
it
wasn't--
I had to
hoist your body, stuck
halfway, through the narrow passage
feet first like a stubborn breech in the womb of morning.

And
then
there was
the matter
of wiping the mud
from your footprints off the throw rug.
They carried with them petals from the flower garden.

The fib was brought to much wider public attention by Gregory K. Pincus on 1 April 2006. His blog has been the center of this new form of poetry. After Pincus published his blog on Fibs, they began appearing widely on the internet. ^[2] Pincus wrote on his blog, "To my surprise (and joy), I continue to find new threads of Fibs popping up all around the Web. I've seen Fibs in over a dozen different languages, and I'd also note that today a cat left a post in the comments of The Fib, joining a priorly poetic dog, so I think it's safe to say that Fibs travel well."^[1]