on my way - the cherita

1 November 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]

on my way
# 8:6 of the cherita
edited by ai li

soirée
our second cherita award book
by Ceri Marriott
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 3600 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2000 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’.

on our way is our 11th book for 2024 of our eighth year. 92 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.

on our way is our 92nd 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.

on our way showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, China, Japan, India, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Germany.

on our way currently 92nd 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 :-

Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Dan Schwerin/ Joanna Ashwell/ Sigrid Saradunn/ kris moon kondo/ Larry Kimmel/ Leon Tefft/ Partha Sarkar/ Dr.Vimme Manoj/ Taura Scott/ Bryan Rickert/ ai li/ Stella Damarjati/ Jan Stretch/ Ceri Marriott/ Sharon Hawley/ Teri Messmer/ Thomas DeFreitas/ Barbara Anna Gaiardoni/ Eva Joan/ Karina Klesko/ Peter Jastermsky/ JF Denis/ Allyson Chen/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Deborah Karl-Brandt/ Roy Kindelberger/ Yiwei Huang/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

through
the grass

: ( silently

snake
snake
snake

Peter Jastermsky

seeing
your face
on the screen

a thousand miles away

time travel
is real

Teri Messmer

on the beach

I follow in your footsteps
(whoever you are)

imagining
sandaled
feet

Larry Kimmel

stripped you off
snake-like

thousand
possibilities
now

no way back

Eva Joan

loneliness

the last leaf
holds fast

to
the barren
branch

Karina Klesko

*
lantern-

left
by
mother…

glows
evening

Partha Sarkar

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

Kathabela Wilson/ Partha Sarkar/ Thomas DeFreitas/ Peter Jastermsky/ Karina Klesko/ Jackie Chou/

on my way 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