sitting quietly - the cherita

1 September 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]

sitting quietly
# 8:4 of the cherita
edited by ai li

empty bottles
gembun anthology 15
edited by ai li

wildflowers were here
dua anthology 10
edited by ai li

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 3200 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 1700 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’.

sitting quietly is our ninth book for 2024 of our eighth year. 90 anthologies of the cherita are now in existence and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 15 Gembun Anthologies, and 10 Dua Anthologies, with more soon on their way.

sitting quietly is our 90th 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.

empty bottles is our new Gembun Anthology 15 and wildflowers were here is our Dua Anthology 10. Both these eagerly awaited anthologies have launched alongside sitting quietly.

sitting quietly showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Japan, China, Italy and Germany.

sitting quietly currently 90th 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/ Partha Sarkar/ Joanna Ashwell/ Kathabela Wilson/ Ash Greenwood/ Teri Messmer/ Sigrid Saradunn/ kris moon kondo/ Nicholas Gentile/ Stanley E Denny/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Jackie Chou/ Larry Kimmel/ Steve Wilson/ Yiwei Huang/ Maria Tosti/ Rita Melissano/ Leon Tefft/ Ann Smith/ Nichael Cramer/ Steph White/ Eva Joan/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

is touching
ever enough

it leads to
thinking and
the mind says

i want more

Teri Messmer

talking
to myself

best not to argue

best not
to argue

Sigrid Saradunn

dawn
till
dusk

and

then
what ?

Larry Kimmel

readers in decline

vacancies
for the dreamer

pages fold
into wings
of the phoenix

Joanna Ashwell

dancing
into the early
hours of a.m.

i used to

there was no one
to go home to

ai li

your fluid grace
laps my shore
of desire

if only to
swim in you

drown in you

Leon Tefft

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

Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Larry Kimmel/ Teri Messmer/ Leon Tefft/ / Ash Greenwood/ Joanna Ashwell/

sitting quietly 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