The vertalifasm is a modern form of poetry created in Idaho by middle school teachers, Karly Holsinger and Robert Zumbrun, as a fun new form for their students to have fun with. These poems are meant to follow a conscious string of thought, emulating the random and sometimes confusing way in which thoughts flow through the brain. One thing links to another, to another, until the topic eventually reached in no way seems relatable to the topic began with. In the case of Veritalifasm, the poems come full circle, ending where it began with the repetition of the final line. These poems can be confusing, challenging, and in many ways ridiculous, but they always have an air of fun. Get random, get factual, and let the thoughts flow.
 
This a a closed form of poetry with set rules. It was indended to be fun while also being challenging, really forcing the poet to follow that trail of thought full circle. The rules are as follows:
1. 10 line poems
2. 10 Syllables per line
3. Each line has to make a factual or truthful statement
4. Each line must refer back to or reference something from the previous line
5. Line nine must also reference something from line one
6. Line ten repeats line one (this brings the poem full circle)
 
Some examples follow:
 
Death Omen
                By Robert Zumbrun
 
Buzzards soar above rotten, putrid corpse          
Corpse rises when beckoned by undead life
Rising heat liquefies feverish thought
Sickness takes hold with fever and cold sweat
Sweat pours from flushed face of fleeing humans
Humans have no predators, save themselves
Predators stalk prey, satiate hunger
Prey, carnivorous afterthoughts of meals
A meal of flesh, fine dining for buzzards
Buzzards soar above rotten, putrid corpse          
 
 
 
 
Leaders of Man
                By Robert Zumbrun
 
Caesar was a Roman politician
Rome breathed life into Catholicism
Constantine legalized Catholic churches
Churches supported thrones of empires
Emperor Charlemagne rules over France
Charlemagne creates cursive alphabet
Cursive writing grows literacy
Writing paves way for ordinary man
Plain men write books, gain political strength
Caesar was a Roman politician
 
 
 
Dogs
                By Robert Zumbrun
 
Dogs pant to regulate body temp
Body temp rises in feverish states
Fevers attempt to burn away infection
Infections fester and can kill
Festering wounds ooze and smell
Wounds, more often than not, are painful
Pain can cause tears to well up in eyes
Tears are salinated saltiness
Salt can cause a dog to puke
Dogs pant to regulate body temp.
 
 
 
Knowledge of Mother Ocean
By: Robert J. Zumbrun
 
Pirates are the scourge of the rough high seas
There are one hundred and nine seas on earth
Earth has five oceans where many ships sail
Sails catch wind to propel a boat forward
Wind stirs and swirls, hurricanes are then born
Hurricanes are destructive ocean rage
Rage is seen in the red face of anger
Criminal faces on wanted posters
Pirates are criminal thieves of the sea
Pirates are the scourge of the rough high seas


Veritalifasm
By Rosie Perkins (from her 7th Grade Writing Notebook)

I like to write Veritalifasm
writing is weirdly fun
fun is for people
people later die
dying is for Mr. Zumbrun's poems
Mr. Zumbrun will never conceid
conceided means giving up
I hate giving stuff away
Veritalifasms are random stuff
I like to write Veritalifasm