my love for words - the cherita

1 December 2024

Three unique short form genres created by ai li
that honour storytelling and keep its breath alive

Cherita [b. 22 June 1997]
Gembun [b. 12 June 1997]
Dua [b. 4 March 2022]

my love for words
# 8:7 of the cherita
edited by ai li

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drizzle
ai li’s fifteenth collection
of virgin cherita

updates on all forthcoming dua and gembun anthologies
and our exciting the cherita award

For those of you who missed reading ai li’s essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua on Rhyvers and viewing her You Tube Cherita video interview for The Wise Owl by Neena Singh, for their special issue on Cherita, here are both links again below.

Here are ai li’s You Tube interview link : www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGmkKKQvqo
and the link for her essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua
rhyvers.com/hk22/

The full transcripts for both can be found on www.thecherita.com/lectures/ as well on the Rhyvers and The Wise Owl’s websites.

There are now over 3800 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2100 views the last time I looked, for my You Tube video Cherita interview, which appeared on 30 September 2023, and which The Wise Owl’s Editor Rachna Singh called ‘insightful’.

my love for words is our 12th book for 2024 of our eighth year. 93 anthologies of the cherita are now in existence and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 16 Gembun Anthologies, and 11 Dua Anthologies, with more soon on their way.

my love for words is our 93rd book in the cherita series of storytelling books, with 90 virgin cherita of more timeless stories to hopefully inspire our readers and poets to join our caravanserai of storytellers.

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my love for words showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Germany, Canada and New Zealand.

my love for words, currently 93rd on the list, belongs to the ongoing the cherita series, as do my personal ongoing writing in one breath series of virgin Cherita, Cherita and Tanka, Cherita and Haiku, and Cherita, Tanka and Haiku books, and lastly my poems for inner rooms series with its 18 Tanka and Haiku books. All these books are available in paperback and kindle on Amazon.

Two of my own books of virgin Gembun, the weight of rain and blank screen, and my two books of Dua, the journey east and dancing shoes, and now arriving nowhere, my first cherita, gembun and dua book, have all been added to my writing in one breath series.

I have edited this book as I have all the other anthologies of the cherita, to be experienced two ways. It can be read as one storybook but also as an anthology of individual poems. Two reading experiences within one book, filled with stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

Cherita terbalik continues to capture the imagination of poets and there are again fine examples in this edition.

Featured Poets as they appear in this anthology :-

ai li/ Dr.Vimmie Manoj/ Jackie Chou/ Kathabela Wilson/ Taura Scott/ Teri Messmer/ Deborah Karl-Brandt/ Partha Sarkar/ Ceri Marriott/ Bill Waters/ Larry Kimmel/ Eva Joan/ Karina Klesko/ Peter Jastermsky/ Patricia Allen Smith/ James Haddad/ Biswajit Mishra/ Nicholas Gentile/ Jennifer Rood/ C. X. Turner/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Sharon Hawley/ Tim Callahan/ Jan Stretch/ Pitt Büerken/ Joanna Ashwell/ Michelle Farrell/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

they agree
to be just
friends

then
one

evening . . .

Peter Jastermsky

it’s a fable undiscovered
a thousand and one petals
to be bedded

so insatiable are

the clouds
this starless night

Karina Klesko

deep in the woods

a rushing stream
filled with runoff

— I stop
close my eyes
and listen

Bill Waters

like a balloon
drifting in the wind

my life
soars
out of control

you hold the string

Teri Messmer

will he be home again ?

his room
kept as it was

the clock stopped
the mirror fluid
with memories

ai li

I am
sending to you

in a separate email

another
of my
swan songs

Larry Kimmel

the cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :

Dr.Vimmie Manoj/ Jackie Chou/ Kathabela Wilson/ Partha Sarkar/ Eva Joan/ Peter Jastermsky/ James Haddad/ / Patricia Allen Smith/ Jennifer Rood/ C. X. Turner/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Teri Messmer/ Karina Klesko/ Larry Kimmel/

my love for words has been edited to be experienced two ways. It can be read as a storybook and as an anthology of individual poems.

I have enjoyed the challenge of selecting and collating for this edition of the cherita and of any other new books from either our 1-2-3 press or our the empty press, and hope that you will find the poems within worthy of a campfire gathering and the sharing of meaningful stories.

If this new book or books strikes or strike a chord with you, please feel free to review, comment on Amazon or give feedback directly to me. It would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

ai li
editor

creator of cherita, gembun, dua
and of 19 other unique and original linked forms

www.thecherita.com
storyteller oasis