my heart - the cherita

1 April 2025

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 h e a r t
cherita 97
edited by ai li

*

sunsets never last
gembun anthology 18
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 4400 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2700 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 h e a r t is our 97th 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.

my h e a r t showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, Canada, India and Germany.

my h e a r t, currently 97th 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/ Teri Messmer/ Ceri Marriott/ Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ Vidya Premkumar/ C.X. Turner/ Daniel W. Brown/ Jackie Chou/ Nolcha Mir Fox/ Taura Scott/ Ram Chandran/ Larry Kimmel/ Laughing Waters/ Partha sarkar/ john zheng/ Seretta Martin/ Lee Hudspeth/ Nicholas Gentile/ Robert Horrobin/ Dennis Owen Frohlich/ Pitt Büerken/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Sharon Hawley/ Kathabela Wilson/ Isabella Kramer/ Sigrid Saradunn/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

sitting
in the sun
with a dear friend

the meditation

of
our conversation

Sigrid Saradunn

naptime

me
not me

and
time
not time

john zheng

in the same spot
where her web was brushed
away this morning

the spider,
pale as a ghost,

is weaving another

Larry Kimmel

without stopping

we just
passed
each other

midnight
train

Laughing Waters

dollar bills
left
on a silk pillow

he’s

on
the road again

ai li

this morning
rain

on the field

breathe in, breathe out
the duet
of existence

Daniel W. Brown

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

Jackie Chou/ Larry Kimmel/ Teri Messmer/ Pitt Büerken/ Patricia Allen Smith/ john Zheng/ Taura Scott/ Sharon Hawley/ Kathabela Wilson/ Isabella Kramer/ C. X. Turner/

my h e a r t 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