There, amongst the books on algebra and trigonometry, I lift the blackboard from its frame, lay it on the teacher’s desk. Using red, blue and green chalks I construct an elaborate mesh of precise spirals.
Back on the wall the pastel vortices arc and shimmer in the moonlight. My white chalk scrawl, MATHS IS SHIT, glows in one corner, surrounded by a sequence of numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…
Standing outside the Headteacher’s office I scrape a rough spiral in the dust on the corridor floor. Hear the words, ‘Too clever by half.’
Later, spirals of red will sting my hands past the end of term and on into the summer holidays – I tell my parents I tripped over.
I still draw spirals.
Chris Sewart lives in East Yorkshire. His poetry and short stories have been published in numerous small press journals and competition anthologies. In 2019, he won the Philip Larkin Society/Festival of Words Poetry Prize. His solo show, Yarn Bombing and Other Poems, debuted at the 2025 Stage 4 Beverley Festival.
'Fibonacci Spirals' was first published in best of miniWords 2001 published by Charnwood Arts, (Loughborough, UK).
Witty and wise - I can feel the stinging hands. Very nice piece Chris!
ReplyDelete