I bought a macro lenses for my iPhone. My sunflowers bloomed. So I took a close-up picture of this amazing gift of nature.
Using a poetry prompt from Poets and Writers, The Time is Now. “Choose an inch of space anywhere around you…Write about that inch. Take a step back. Focus the scope of your poetry. Writing about a single drop of rain can tell us the most about the sky above,” I set out to write a poem about this shining inch in my flower bed.
I also did some research on Wikipedia and found out that the design of the inflorescence (flower head) is a swirl. The swirl design can be mathematically described using the Fibonacci series. With my students last year, I wrote Fib poems using the syllable count of 1,1,2,3,5,8 then turned it around 8,5,3,2,1,1. So what is more appropriate than writing a Fib about the sunflower?
I’ve posted both versions of my poem here. The first is free verse while the second is a Fibonacci poem.
Summer Sunflower
Alive
in yellow exuberance,
inflorescent
spirals off a golden angle—
a mathematician’s playground
in patterned perfection.
I study your face
with squinty eyes,
let time elapse
loving our mother’s glory.
–Margaret Simon(Fibonacci poem)
I
am
alive
in yellow
enthusiastic
spirals off a golden angle
patterned perfection
study of
mother’s
love.
— Margaret Simon
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jone at Check it Out.
Reflections on the Teche 
I love “Alive in yellow exuberance,” “inflorescent spirals off a golden angle—” and “a mathematician’s playground.”
[…] Margaret has a Fibonacci poem about the sunflower. Did you know the sunflower fluorescence is a Fibonacci series? Take a minute to learn about the mathematics of sunflowers there. […]
Isn’t it amazing how much in nature follows that fibonacci sequencing? I think I might have to find one of the ‘micro’ lenses, Margaret-the photo is amazing. And love both poems, especially “a mathematician’s playground
in patterned perfection.” Sounds very nice read aloud!
Your observations of your sunflower are lovely. “Alive in yellow exuberance” indeed! Thank you for sharing the link to the poetry prompt, too. I might have to try it myself.
I have too many favorite phrases to pick any out! Great job, Margaret.
In your first version, I love “a mathematician’s playground/in patterned perfection.” Being married to a math-science guy, that phrase rings so true to the exuberant delight they feel about mathematics’ elegance.
In the second, I love how the sunflower becomes an active participant in the poem: “I/am/alive/in yellow.”
Looking forward to more instagram tweets with your new toy!
[…] F is for Fibonacci poems. The master of the Fib poem is Greg Pincus of The 14 Fibs of Gregory K which I haven’t read yet because my boys are passing it around. The fib poem is based on the Fibonacci series in mathematics; 1,2,3,5,8,…which in nature creates a beautiful spiral as in the sunflower. […]