ANNOUNCEMENTS - the cherita

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

1 June 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]

*

i touch
cherita 99
edited by ai li

*

an abundance
ai li’s sixteenth book
of 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 4700 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2900 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’.

I created both Cherita and Gembun way back in 1997 and these two unique storytelling genres will be 29 years old after June of this year. Along with Dua, which came later, they have collectively flown the creator’s nest and have now spread their wings far and wide.

Love appears to be in the air for storytelling with Cherita, Gembun and Dua, These 3 genres, at their best, are often poetic and lyrical with fine examples residing in all our anthologies. When so much depth and meaning can be expressed in so few lines, without any restraint from syllables and seasonal words, writing short form poetry can be an exciting yet healing challenge to take on daily as some form of informal meditative practice.

This way of writing in one breath covering the themes of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal, and of going with the flow, has worked for me for almost 30 years, with muse as my constant and faithful companion.

As a storyteller, I often dream of having a day off from writing but the reality is I find inspiration for my stories all around me, and this always acts like a spontaneous trigger for putting pen on paper.

I remember when I was on the island of Penang last year and had hurried out for an authentic Peranakan/Straits Chinese meal before the rains got worse on this tropical evening. Soon after ordering, I happened to look up from the menu and saw this neon sign through the restaurant’s main window.

stories penang
neon sign of ‘stories’ in Penang

Then in Ubud two years ago, I walked through a paddy field in the fierce sun and found a restaurant serving the most delicious modern Balinese food with the serenade of local songbirds thrown in for good measure. Its name cerita manisan translates as sweet story. [I use the old spelling for my cherita genre as this was how the word was spelt when I was growing up in what was British Malaya.]

internal signboard of ‘cerita manisan, each dish tells a story’, ubud, bali

some of the lovely songbirds in cerita manisan’s garden, ubud, bali

It appears that muse and genius loci are in cahoots even when I am thousands of miles away from Old Blighty. Need I say more?

June 2025 welcomes the cherita’s anniversary edition of i touch, cherita 99 and an abundance, ai li’ sixteenth cherita book.

i touch is our 99th 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.

i touch showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, Australia and Germany.

i touch, currently 99th 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.

# For all acceptance letters for Cherita before 7 April 2025, for our forthcoming Anthologies – Books 103, 104, 105 and 106, please be aware that your acceptance letters should have read ‘for the fourth quarter 2025 and not ‘for the first quarter of 2026’. Your accepted cherita will now appear much earlier. Please accept my sincere apologies. I will have to have a serious word with my Dyslexia. #

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.

There are now 99 anthologies of the cherita, and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 18 Gembun Anthologies, and 14 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.

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/ john zheng/ Robert Horrobin/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Taura Scott/ Sharon Hawley/ Kathabela Wilson/ Larry Kimmel/ Keitha Keyes/ Nicholas Gentile/ Peter Mladinic/ C.X. Turner/ Lee Hudspeth/ Seretta Martin/ Teri Messmer/ connor orrico/ Karina Klesko/ Anthony Lusardi/ Peter Jastermsky/ Madhuri Pillai/ Roy Kindelberger/ Eva Joan/ Pitt Büerken/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

at a

poetry reading
he takes my hand

and reaches
across the aisle
for hers

Teri Messmer

a book left open
under my pillow

fairytales

the wolf lurks there
between the words
only I dare to read

C. X. Turner

every night

he sets the timer
on the rainbow
solar lamp

so I can sleepwalk
into a galaxy

Kathabela Wilson

rising wind

an orange
moon

plays
the rope swing
on a swaying tree

john zheng

a nap

afternoon
made
necessary
with

rose petals

ai li

rain
remembers

each cloud

it
came
from

Barry J. Vitcov

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

Barry J. Vitcov/ Kathabela Wilson/ C. X. Turner/ Taura Scott/ Karina Klesko/ Seretta Martin/

an abundance is ai li’s sixteenth book of cherita, and it appears alongside i touch this month.

Six sample virgin cherita from an abundance :-

fortune teller

i may have
been one
in a past life

i read
rainbows

ai li

sleeping

then slept
under
the stars

moon was away
but not magic

ai li

she’s away

with
the fairies
tonight

let
her be

ai li

i hear

myself
coughing
I

have
echo

ai li

an abundance

of red berries
this year

the ghosts
of winter birds
are early

ai li

dawn

i found
love here

my fingers
and toes
sleeping together

ai li

This is June’s update on the cherita award :

Here are six cherita of mine which were published in dream merchant and i’m going home, and which hopefully show you how flexible the cherita genre can be.

If anyone is seriously considering to write Cherita well, my advice is for you to get hold of a copy of either one or both of our Cherita Award books or any of my own books which will help as reference guides for widening the storytelling scope for creating timeless Cherita.

I hope these cherita will further inspire you, should you decide to submit your virgin cherita for the cherita award. We also now have Joanna Ashwell and Ceri Marriott, our first two Cherita Award recipients with river lanterns and soirée, their respective books. Who will be our next Cherita Award poet?

your old letters

like bittersweet tea
one sip

and
the years
vanish

ai li
from dream merchant

in the east

i am lonelier
i may speak the dialect

but i speak
only to
headstones

ai li
from dream merchant

how late

is
the afternoon
now ?

the long shadows
of fallen plums

ai li
from i’m going home

*
burying

the silence
with more silence

the weight
of a blossom scented
evening

ai li
from i’m going home

the other moon

still lake
until

one fish
jumping out
of the other sky

ai li
from i’m going home

i am soul’s pilgrim

come winter
the ruined monastery

of poetry
letting
rain in

ai li
from dream merchant

For all new entrants, please be aware that fewer words in your cherita are always more, and to not repeat a subject matter often, unless of course you are able to come to it from a very different angle or perspective, rendering it anew. You want your portfolio to be one of timelessness and wonder, and to avoid a sameyness of subject matter which would inevitably make your portfolio bland and yawn inducing.

Here’s June 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 19-21 :

Anthology 19 is now complete and needs its final proof reading.

Anthologies 20 and 21 are continuing with their gembun storytelling journeys.

Do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

The Gembun Anthologies 1 – 18 [snow clouds, evening, paper talisman, windswept rain, deepening night, the old, white flowers, coming home, bedtime story, rain song, ice storm, belonging, the water, dancing silhouette, empty bottles, i remember and just before dark] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your amazing enthusiasm and strong faith for, and in this genre.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is June 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 15-18 :

Anthologies 15 and 16 are now both complete and require their final proof reading.

Anthologies 17 and 18 are continuing with their dua storytelling journeys.

Writing good Dua requires a different mental discipline to Gembun and Cherita but it can be just as good a workout for our brain cells. Your storytelling skills are kept honed when you write all these three unique short form poetry genres. Seriously though, can we resist a challenge to tell our stories in a timeless fashion? I know I can’t. All these three genres challenge me to become a better storyteller in 6, 4 and 2 lines.

All Dua Anthologies 1 – 14 [remembering, I know the way, the light dying, the rain, something rare, all is dark, listening to the ocean, no longer sky, home in rain wildflowers were here, in the room, hammock afternoon, blue sky and evening walk] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your faith in Dua and your creative flair for telling stories even more minimally than Cherita and Gembun.

Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.

You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
and on www.aili.co.uk/dua

If you have written dua that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.
Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Dua for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

Please can you now submit all of your submissions in Arial 11 font size, left justified with no italics, and also use our standard submission email for all our genres. This will be in effect as of now.

You will still be required to fill in your hometown/city and country with all submissions [this info is for our files] but only your country will be published in our books from this edition onwards. This will help speed up my proof reading.
There are also no longer any deadlines for submissions which are now on an ongoing basis.

Edition # 8.7 will be the last book numbered this way. From January 2025, all our books will be simply numbered, starting with Cherita 94, Cherita 95, Cherita 96 and so forth. This new numbering style will be incorporated in all the acceptance letters.

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

In the next few months or so, I will endeavour to launch the finished anthologies which I hope to launch alternating with the dua anthologies, where possible, as you have all been saints with your inspirational patience.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

My wish, as I have indicated before, is for the both Anthologies to become a fluid and ongoing series for showcasing the best of the Gembun and Dua genres with the gems from your writing. That has not changed.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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

1 May 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]

*

i spy
cherita 98
edited by ai li

*

evening walk
dua anthology 14
edited by ai li

*

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

There are now over 4500 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2800 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’.

Here are some of the other stories from what was old Siam, which I held back last month. Now that Spring is in the air with our longer days, I feel that sharing these colours below more apt.

spirit house in jim thompson’s garden, bangkok

thai silk founder jim thompson’s living room, bangkok

It quite surprised me that after many years of not using ‘Siam’, that Bangkok now has a Siam Paragon, IconSiam, Siam Center, Siam Discovery, Siam Square One, Siam Premium Outlets Bangkok, SookSiam, The Old Siam Plaza and Siam Square to name just what I saw and visited.

thai desserts, bangkok

I have always preferred Siam to Thailand as the word was not only exotic but it conjured up tall golden stupas and the hypnotic Buddhist prayer chants at dawn. I can still see Yul Brynner on the London stage with Virginia McKenna reprising his King and I role as King Mongkut. We, the theatregoers were mesmerised by his powerful portrayal all over again. Yul Brynner played the king 4,625 times over a 30 year period which included stage, film and tv appearances and 1,246 performances on the original Broadway production from 1951 to 1954.

I was so glad to see the old name for this kingdom being widely in use again. Siam Paragon was my favourite mall for its food section where the produce was mind blowingly fresh, plentiful and siren like with its colourful and aromatic temptations. I became the wide eyed child in a sweet shop.

more thai desserts, chiangmai…

My inner wide eyed child would have loved to have included the far South to my food sojourn but our Foreign Travel Advice advised against any non-essential travel to parts of South Thailand, especially near the Thai-Malaysian border. In a nutshell, there is martial law in the provinces and indiscriminate terrorist attacks appear to be the order of the day.

Despite this setback or travel impasse, I was determined to not let this prevent me from discovering, and being able to indulge in, a variety of memorable and delicious Thai food available in both Bangkok and Chiangmai, ranging from street nosh to Michelin starred. Good food was relatively inexpensive and readily available everywhere one looked.

The stellar cast of vegetables that were used, with and without protein, in curries, stir fries, stews, salads, sambals et al, included water mimosa, lotus stems, wild acacia, rice paddy herb, senna siamea, white leadtree pods, malientha grass, gymnema, cowslip creeper, marsilea crenata, kniphofia, smooth and angled luffa, climbing wattle, chayote, winged beans, tea leaves baked with broad beans and lentils, amaranth, mallow leaf, poker fern, young tamarind leaves, sator beans, banana blossom and the usual suspects of pomelo, bitter melon and so forth, titillated one’s taste buds and palate into a state of sweet surrender.

thai food, chiangmai

This smorgasbord of texture, scent and flavours also included a vast array of intricate and painstakingly executed Thai desserts which needed no persuasion on their part for me to gluttonously partake. As you can see, my sweet tooth did not stay home but stowed away on this journey.

dusit thani mango sticky rice, bangkok

The local Marian [maprang in thai] plums were also in season and I could not stop eating them as they had an intriguing sweet sour taste.

dusit thani marian plums and local oranges, bangkok

The connection to familial food, for me, is undoubtedly a direct hot line to my childhood, allowing the ancestors to join me in spirit, as we feast again, en famille, like we used to.

thai dessert, bangkok

I moved from the Chinese courtyard style hotel to what was the former 125 year old teak East Borneo Trading Company house for the last stretch of my Chiang Mai stay. Louis Leonowens, the son of Anna of King and I fame, joined the EBTC, and in 1896 opened their Chiang Mai office. History tells us that 600 elephants toiled and worked, dragging the large and heavy teak wood to the river for shipment to Europe where teak was highly prized as it was impervious to termites and other insects.

The imprint of these hard working elephants remain on site. When renovation works were being carried out on Bann Borneo to turn it into a hotel, a long root of a tall and robust ancient rubber tree was deemed in the way of the new stone footpath and so workmen attempted to cut back this root but to no avail. Injuries occurred and tools malfunctioned and so the idea was dropped. It was only when the new stone path was laid to incorporate the stray root that the management realised how the spirit of these 600 long lost elephants who laboured on this land managed to leave something of themselves behind in the ground. When I first saw the exposed root going down to breakfast, the image stopped me in my tracks and I could not help but recall that elephants, with their spatial, social and olfactory long term memory, do not forget. Their collective memories are all still here as is the old teak building.

137 pillars house, chiangmai

We are all in a way time travellers.

It’s a comforting thought to hold on to, cherish, believing that one can perhaps return as tangible spirit of place.

May 2025 welcomes the launch of i spy, cherita 98 and evening walk, our dua Anthology 14.

There are now 98 anthologies of the cherita, and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 18 Gembun Anthologies, and 14 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.

i spy is our 98th 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.

i spy showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, France, Germany, Australia and India.

i spy, currently 98th 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.

#For all acceptance letters for Cherita before 7 April 2025, for our forthcoming Anthologies – Books 103, 104 and 105, please be aware that your acceptance letters should have read ‘for the fourth quarter 2025 and not ‘for the first quarter of 2026’. Your accepted cherita will now appear much earlier. Please accept my sincere apologies. I will have to have a serious word with my Dyslexia.#

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/ Daniel W. Brown/ C. X. Turner/ Timothy Daly/ Jackie Chou/ Kathabela Wilson/ Larry Kimmel/ Laughing Waters/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Sharon Hawley/ john zheng/ Robert Horrobin/ Dennis Owen Frohlich/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Pitt Büerken/ Taura Scott/ Keitha Keyes/ Nicholas Gentile/ Peter Mladinic/ Teri Messmer/ Partha Sarkar/ Anthony Lusardi/ Karina Klesko/ Eva Joan/ Peter Jastermsky/
Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

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

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

perhaps…nothing

beyond
treetops

but
then
again

Daniel W. Brown

this weakness of spirit

shorter days
i’m collecting shadows
at dusk

to eat
with me

ai li

as if they hold
a promise
of return

his shoes

still by the door
i do not move them

C.X. Turner

in
gothic
moonlight

a grave

lies
open

Larry Kimmel

a lonely tear

in
the labyrinth
of her face

stories
are written

Laughing Waters

one large
magenta bud
on the Christmas cactus

I move it closer
to the window

full moon night

Kathabela Wilson

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

Daniel W. Brown/ Dennis Owen Frohlich/ Sharon Hawley/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Taura Scott/ Eva Joan/ Karina Klesko/ Kathabela Wilson/ Teri Messmer/ Larry Kimmel/

evening walk is our dua anthology 14, and it appears alongside i spy this month.

evening walk, our 14th Dua Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, Canada and India.

I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find evening walk a worthy read.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

Pitt Büerken/ ai li/ Jan Stretch/ Partha Sarkar/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ Taura Scott/ Kathabela Wilson/ Paulette Calasibetta/ Barry J. Vitcov/ D’ellen/ Jackie Chou/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Diane Funston/ nivy/ Sharon Hawley/ Roy Kindelberger/ C.X. Turner/

a dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition:

Taura Scott/ Kathabela Wilson/ Paulette Calasibetta/ C.X. Turner/ Pitt Büerken/ Diane Funston/ Jackie Chou/

Six sample virgin dua from this anthology :-

wildflowers

i stop to pick them

ai li

migrant birds

magical kites

Paulette Calasibetta

in the palm of your hand

your warmth on my cheek

Kathabela Wilson

what could be

around the bend

Sharon Hawley

silence in the evening

only the rustle of the leaves

Pitt Büerken

moving on

to dance the hula

C.X. Turner

This is May’s update on the cherita award :

Here are six cherita of mine which were published in no footsteps, i hear and the aroma, from the cherita anthologies, and which hopefully can guide you to how one can use the cherita genre to tell many different stories in just 6 lines.

her eyes

are at
the window

her beauty
veiled
by religion

ai li
from no footsteps
the cherita

our feet

in the shallows
of another holiday

hoping
our big toes
will touch

ai li
from i hear
the cherita

the stuff of dreams

a glass carriage
animal footmen
my gown of stardust

too bad he didn’t
live to finish the story

ai li
from no footsteps
the cherita

in that old

and slow
world of
my youth

the lost beauty
that will come later

ai li
from the aroma
the cherita

on the road
to nowhere

is where i’m at

i meet
the coffin maker
going home

ai li
from the aroma
the cherita

letting go
at last

they
were all
paste

her dreams

ai li
from the aroma
the cherita

Here’s May 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 19-21 :

Anthology 19 is nearly there.

Meanwhile, Anthology 20 is coming along beautifully.

We also have a new Anthology 21 joining in.

Do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is May’s 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 15-18 :

Anthology 15 is waiting for me to give it a final proof reading.

Anthology 16 is very nearly there.

The two new Anthologies 17 and 18 have started on their dua storytelling journey.

Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.

You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
and on www.aili.co.uk/dua

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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

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

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’.

The current news of the devastating earthquake in Myanmar with repercussions felt in Thailand, Lao, China and Vietnam was a great shock to me as I was travelling in Thailand less than two weeks ago. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, their families and everyone else who have been affected by this sudden and terrible tragedy. My stories below were written on the day I left Bangkok so I apologise for their pre-earthquake content.

I’ve just returned from the Land of Smiles.

I was first in what was old Siam en route to Paris decades ago, and whilst been shown around Bangkok, was amazed to see my father’s old vintage classic 1950s peach Cadillac being used as a taxi at a roundabout. It still had my father’s distinctive registration number plate which was even more amazing, considering the car was now being used commercially, and driven in another country. Alas, the only image of this brief encounter lies deep within the chambers of remembrance.

This new trip was primarily for me to re-kindle my love affair with Southern Thai food which I grew up eating alongside Straits Chinese, Malay and Southern Indian fare, all of which infused my childhood with their heady aromas, vibrant and enticing come taste me colours. But more on this culinary adventure in my next newsletter as it would have been frivolous and inappropriate for me to have included these images this month in light of the recent earthquake.

On my first night in Chiang Mai, the words on a card left on my pillow by the turn down service, startled but, at the same time gently reminded me of the importance of storytelling in all our lives.

chiang mai turn down

I created Cherita, Gembun and Dua to enable poets and writers to tell their stories in the purest form available to them which was in a minimal way, to extract the true essence of a moment in time, rendering it timeless. The layout of this unique hotel cleverly borrowed the centre courtyard design of old Chinese houses which allowed its inhabitants the balanced space and tranquillity as panacea, to meditate, write and daydream in, without any urban hullabaloo. The various Buddha statues and Thai antiques which had been carefully placed throughout, added to the zen quiet of this property which was impetus enough for any storyteller to begin putting pen to paper.

inner courtyard

For a brief moment in time, a beautiful grey pedigree cat called Sebastien gave me comfort.

I lost our last cat Scratch eleven years ago, and so when I saw this Thai cat café which was deserted as it was the low season, I was through the door before you could say Geronimo. I spent time playing with the 75 resident cats who all appeared bored and lethargic, to stimulate them into mental and physical action. I enticed them with several of the cat toys that were around and gently massaged each side of their temples and pinched the back of the necks to remind them of how their mothers used to carry them. They rolled in ecstasy and quickly became more animated and alert. While this play reinvigorated them, I was soon exhausted after seventy five rounds of play. I sat down in my grey ankle socks, provided by the café, to catch my breath, when this big and beautiful grey cat came up to me and elegantly laid his right temple on my left foot and promptly dozed off quietly purring. I didn’t have the heart to move or disturb him to reach for my camera. My grey socks must have reminded him of his mother’s paws. The girls at the café told me he was Sebastien. The little darling finally woke up when he heard food arriving. I did manage to cradle him with his face looking up at me, which I always did, with all our own cats. He was soft as down and very loving. Leaving him behind was tough.

dear sebastien

On my way back to our hotel, we passed a large walking group of men and women all dressed up in black with matching conical straw paddy planting hats. A tour group came to mind until our driver pointed to my left and I saw a burning pyre. There was a clearing and I was shocked to witness a cremation up so close, and right in the middle of an ancient city. Fortunately, all the car windows were closed. The unmistakeable scent of the small fresh jasmine garland hanging under the rear view mirror was a timely reminder of things impermanent.

My flight home was at midnight and when we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport to check in, there was a large group of predominantly females, both young and not so young, lining the entrance to the terminal. I soon worked out that they must be waiting for a celebrity. Arrived he did very soon after, with his bodyguards and entourage. The fans started screaming and waving placards. I managed to snap him in his bucket hat heading towards security as we were too. Google informed me that he was J-Hope, a famous South Korean K-pop star, rapper, song writer, record producer, and had just performed in a concert in Bangkok. He waved to his fans before disappearing into Security and the cathedral high terminal roared again with the adoring screams. Is this fame??

j-hope

I’ve saved my born again hotel story till last.

Sometime last year, soon after the reservation for our hotel in Bangkok, I found a box of old black and white family photographs. In this treasure trove were several small Kodak photographs of my mother, uncle and aunt visiting Penang and Thailand in the early 1970s. I suddenly realised that the hotel they stayed in, in Bangkok, was the one I had just booked for our stay. The first incarnation of this hotel was in 1970, which then closed in 2019 for its demolition. Then to rise again like a phoenix in September 2024, to re-claim its name which means Town in Heaven in Thai, with each room offering a panoramic view overlooking Lumpini Park, one of Bangkok‘s important and spacious green lungs. The original Benjarong Thai Restaurant’s 50+ year old two colossal handpainted pillars [weighing 10 tonnes] by the famous artist Paiboon Suwannakudt, also known as Tan Kudt, were painstakingly removed and have now been reinstalled in the new hotel lobby. The design on these pillars were inspired by the paintings displayed at Wat Pho [home of the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand]. There were restorers working daily on refreshing both pillars while we were there. Benjarong’s original paintings, murals and carved teak ceiling have also been reinstated and re-assembled to bring part of its past back to this new building. Today, the two pillars have been placed where they serve as a gateway to time itself, and to a private and personal place of tranquillity.

Two mature Plumeria trees that were planted over 55 years ago were also saved and replanted in the grounds.

lumpini park view

To be able to experience in a tangible way what my mother, uncle and aunt saw, felt and touched over 50 years ago was very emotional for me especially since I booked this hotel with no recollection of this ‘coincidence’. The hotel describes their breathtaking views of Lumpini Park as ‘golden frames of memories’ which will help draw positive energy into its space. My mother, uncle and aunt have been gone for some time now but I felt them close here, far away from the old country.

Their touch remains. I, will be back.

April 2025 sees the launch of my h e a r t, cherita 97 and sunsets never last, gembun Anthology 18.

There are now 97 anthologies of the cherita, available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 18 Gembun Anthologies, and 13 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.

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/

sunsets never last is our gembun anthology 18, and it appears alongside my h e a r t this month.

sunsets never last, our 18th Gembun Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, India, Japan and Pakistan.

I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find sunsets never last a worthy read.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

ai li/ Jan Stretch/ Pitt Büerken/ Paulette Calasibetta/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Partha Sarkar/ Lisa Sparaco/ Eva Joan/ Seretta Martin/ kris moon kondo/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Hifsa Ashraf/

A dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition :

Jan Stretch/ Pitt Büerken/ Paulette Calasibetta/ Eva Joan/ Jackie Chou/ Seretta Martin/ Hifsa Ashraf/

Six sample virgin gembun from this anthology :-

candles

on the altar
waiting for
a match

Paulette Calasibetta

summer
of
auroral light

Pitt Büerken

precious
as diamonds
dew drops

on leaves

Jan Stretch

nightfall

in the stillness
delicate scents
of roses

Eva Joan

pressed between
clouds and trees
dad’s white handkerchiefs

ironed by mom

Seretta Martin

happy ending

my box
of tissues
untouched

ai li

This is April’s update on the cherita award :

I am sharing six cherita of mine which were published in snow ghosts, pieces of sky, morning light and rush of wings, four titles from the cherita anthologies collection, to hopefully inspire and guide you to the many possibilities possible with my storytelling genre in 6 lines.

a sunset for two

the perfect
picture postcard

empty porch
the cobweb and spider
long gone

ai li
from snow ghosts
the cherita

your reading glasses

are still
where you left them

on an old page
the silverfish
miss you

ai li
from snow ghosts
the cherita

the very thought of him

this morning
this afternoon
tonight

keeps her disability
company

ai li
from pieces of sky
the cherita

the trouble
with dying roses
is the fact

that i am left

with the ghost
of colour

ai li
from morning light
the cherita

a small

night light
that’s all

throwing shadows
that dance
without song

ai li
from rush of wings
the cherita

the water’s edge
i’m reluctant

to give
my face
a twin

ai li
from rush of wings
the cherita

Here’s April 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 18-20 :

Anthology 19 is close to being complete.
Anthology 20 is meanwhile filling up with your timeless gembun.

Do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is April 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 14-18 :

Anthologies 14 and 15 are now complete and waiting for me to give them both final proof readings.

Anthology 16 is very nearly there and we now have Anthologies 17 and 18 awaiting more of your virgin dua.

All Dua Anthologies 1 – 13 [remembering, I know the way, the light dying, the rain, something rare, all is dark, listening to the ocean, no longer sky, home in rain wildflowers were here, in the room, hammock afternoon and blue sky] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your faith in Dua and your creative flair for telling stories even more minimally than Cherita and Gembun.

Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.

You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
and on www.aili.co.uk/dua

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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

1 March 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]

*

i get lost again
cherita 96
edited by ai li

*
blue sky
dua anthology 13
edited by ai li

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

There are now over 4100 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2400 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’.

It is almost a year since I visited Thimphu, Punakha, Gantey, Bumthang and Paro in the Kingdom of Bhutan. I still feel that I left a part of me behind as residual energy, dancing with genius loci under a tall Indian silk tree.

How can I forget struggling to get out of bed at the unearthly hour of 2 am to catch our only flight of the day from New Delhi to Paro. Paro airport is one of the most dangerous airports of the world akin to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport which closed in 1998. It is located between Himalayan peaks and deep valleys and rely on only a limited number of highly skilled pilots who are certified to land, particularly in atrocious weather, as they mainly rely on landmarks to land due to limited radar capabilities.

Our amazing Drukair pilots not only got us safely there and back, but gifted us with the jewel of a dawn, and our very first glimpse of Everest on our side of the aircraft. The early morning light was perfect and the flight turbulence free. Saying that it was a spiritual moment for me is an understatement.

my first view, from my window seat, of Sagarmartha [the peak of heaven], its Sanskrit name

Everest holds a special place in my consciousness. My younger nephew David led the very first Singapore expedition to Everest in 1998, and is the author of several motivational books. Shortly after his momentous expedition, he was in a coma for almost two years with Guillain-Barré syndrome. I remember him mentioning to me that he believed he had contracted GBS in Katmandu. His immune system attacked his peripheral nervous system which caused his paralysis and muscle weakness from this rare neurological disorder. If memory serves, he was only able to communicate with his parents with his eye movements.

After his long recovery, he returned to his love of mountaineering and led over 15 more expeditions though disabled in one lower leg from GBS. What he has been through, and the way he re-started both his personal and professional life still leaves me in awe of the indomitability of the human spirit.

One Bhutanese individual also came to mind as I’m writing this month’s newsletter.

of sutras and bangers

In one of the major draughty Paro monasteries, a child monk was bent over his small desk repeating his sutras. I was fully cocooned in fleece from the cold when I saw him with just his prayer robe on. I felt his aloneness. I went over quietly and asked him what he missed most from, and, of home. He looked up at me, and in perfect English, replied that what he missed most was his grandmother cooking her homemade sausages for him every morning for breakfast. We then shared a moment of silent understanding before I apologised for disturbing him, thanked him for speaking with us, and left him to return to his prayers. On my way out of the monastery, I turned around briefly to mentally wish him a long life of learning, freedom from too much suffering, with a hope that his family, particularly his grandmother, would one day be even more proud of him when he emerges as a compassionate and adult Buddhist monk.

It was only when I returned to our lodge and sat by our clear pristine stream under an impossibly clear blue sky that I remembered I had forgotten to ask his name.

I have always believed that Hope finds us, when and if, we really need it most.

March 2025 sees the launch of i get lost again, cherita 96 and blue sky, dua Anthology 13.

There are now 96 anthologies of the cherita, and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 17 Gembun Anthologies, and 13 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.

i get lost again is our 96th 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.

i get lost again showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Canada and Germany.

i get lost again, currently 96th 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.

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/ Joanna Ashwell/ Barun Saha/ Ceri Marriott/ Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ Partha Sarkar/ Biswajit Mishra/ C.X. Turner/ Daniel W. Brown/ Teri Messmer/ Vidya Premkumar/ Nolcha Mir Fox/ Lisa Ann Sparaco/ Taura Scott/ Ram Chandran/ john zheng/ Isabella Kramer/ Larry Kimmel/ Laughing waters/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Lee Hudspeth/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

young windows
paint the wall
with summer

an old ceiling
hanging

beyond sight

Barun Saha

from my deck chair
the softening
colours of the sky

the stillness of the air

the peace
I wish for all

Jan Stretch

fallen blossoms

I pause
to listen
for the echo

of familiar
footsteps

Neena Singh

my collection
of designer sunglasses

now retirees

trying
to remember
the sun

ai li

floating
like mist across the bridge

from her world
to mine
we touch

but only briefly

C.X. Turner

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 :

Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ C.X. Turner/ Daniel W. Brown/ Teri Messmer/ Partha Sarkar/ Isabella Kramer/

blue sky is our dua anthology 13, and it appears alongside i get lost again this month.

blue sky, our 13th Dua Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, India and Canada.

I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find blue sky a worthy read.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

Pitt Büerken/ Prashanth V/ Ceri Marriott/ ai li/ Richa Sharma/ Vidya Premkumar/ Bryan Rickert/ Jan Stretch/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ Karina Klesko/ nivy/ Partha Sarkar/

A dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition :

Vidya Premkumar/ Pitt Büerken/ Partha Sarkar/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ nivy/ Jan Stretch/

Six sample virgin dua from this anthology :-

dipped a toe in the river

now part of the sea

Jan Stretch

rainbow-coloured

the smallest umbrella

Richa Sharma

a lake

that autumn colours

ai li

a rendezvous

with his scent

Karina Klesko

nursery

a bud calls out

nivy

the writing on the wall,

was it always there?

Ceri Marriott

This is March’s update on the cherita award :

Someone asked me the other day what a cherita lighthouse was.

These are timeless pieces of cherita that resonate with me, and hopefully with our readers as well, was my answer, and which are worthy of a special award which the cherita lighthouse, as well as a gem and dua bella are, for gembun and dua respectively. These are pieces that can be read in your mind or aloud.

Here are six beautiful virgin Cherita which I awarded the Lighthouse awards to from home for the wind, dream journal and wondering where, three titles from our cherita anthologies collection, to hopefully inspire and guide you to the many possibilities possible with my storytelling genre in 6 lines.

I hope these cherita will further inspire you, should you decide to submit your virgin cherita for the cherita award. We now have Joanna Ashwell and Ceri Marriott, our first two Cherita Award recipients with river lanterns and soirée, their respective books. Who will be our next Cherita Award poet?

dandelion
wish
hides

in a spider web
waiting

to be blown away

Pat Geyer
from home for the wind
the cherita

unfettered

I let
myself go

a red kite’s wings
measure the width
of this loneliness

Debbie Strange
from home for the wind
the cherita

a way out

perhaps
or is this

another sliding door
where time jars
between a dream

Joanna Ashwell
from dream journal
the cherita

the butterfly

in me
in you

let’s see
where . . .
the breeze takes us

Caroline Skanne
from dream journal
the cherita

this time again

I prepare my mind
to study harder

but then
my eyes fell on the world outside,
playing with the wind

Muskaan Ahuja
from wondering where
the cherita

searching
for an apple

to curl up in

and
give birth
to the rain

Réka Nyitrai
from wondering where
the cherita

Here’s March 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 18-20 :

With a bit of luck, Anthology 18 should be the next anthology to appear soon.

Anthology 19 is very nearly there with just a few spots left to fill.

Meanwhile, Anthology 20 is filling up with your timeless gembun.

Do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is March 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 14-16 :

Anthology 14 is now complete and wating for me to give it a final proof reading.

Anthology 15 is very nearly there.

Meanwhile Anthology 16 is steadily filling up with more and more of with your timeless dua.

Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.

You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
and on www.aili.co.uk/dua

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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

1 February 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]
*

snowfall
cherita 95
edited by ai li

*
just before dark
gembun anthology 17
edited by ai li

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

The wildfires of late in California have been fearsome and relentless. I’m sure our poets who live/lived in the vicinity or in the path of these seemingly unstoppable flames must have not only felt fear, powerlessness, but have been badly affected by the merciless onslaught and devastation of lives, homes, sentimental and personal possessions and businesses. I send our Californian poets and all other affected individuals and wildlife my healing prayers and thoughts and wish them all safe outcomes.

29th January has brought in the Year of the Snake for Chinese New Year 2025. This time of year is a time for reflection for me. There was always excitement at having new clothes for the auspicious day itself and red was the favoured colour. My maternal grandparents who were the raconteurs extraordinaire who inspired me to be a storyteller and wordsmith, would be all dressed up waiting for the family to arrive to offer them red date, sugared winter melon and rock sugar tea, for a year of good health and prosperity. We would all kneel in front of my grandparents in our new year finery, in rotation, starting from the oldest to the youngest, to perform this ancient rite. In return for our piety and obeisance, my grandmother would leave on the tea tray an angpow [red paper packet of money] for each of us to spirit away in glee. Mine was always substantial as I was my grandmother’s pearl. Then the banquet cum feast begins. Halcyon days that live on in memory. Impossible to replicate with the main cast of loved ones now in spirit.

Here are three images from my one of my various trips deep into China to re-trace my ancestral roots :

The magnificent and enormous stone carvings of a recumbent buddha, and of various other deities were captured on film by me when I visited Dazu, the Unesco World Heritage Site with rock carvings dating from the 7th Century AD depicting Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs near Chongqing.

There are over 50,000 statues with 100,000 Chinese inscriptions and epigraphs over 75 protected sites which miraculously escaped the Cultural Revolution.

Dazu was off limits to all visitors for many years and it was only in 1981 when foreign visitors were allowed in. Until then, there was only a muddy path in to the stone carvings. Truly one of the most awe-inspiring sights which I consider to be truly an ancient wonder.

Meanwhile, back in Old Blighty, London has had light snowfall but the cold was intense for a while. This allowed me time to do some reading of my own. Some truancy from editing and collating was the order of the day. The inclement weather gave me a chance to re-read some of the numerous books I’ve published, and to re-kindle that AHA moment of a first read of all those wonderful and timeless poems that have graced the pages.

I also found myself captivated again by Penélope O´Meara’s eloquent essay specially written for the cherita, and about cherita, which she entitled The Cherita and the Golden Spiral. She believed that Cherita embraced the Fibonacci sequence. Penny was kind enough to give me permission to reproduce it on our website. For those of you who are unfamiliar with her writing, or who have not read this special piece, do visit this link www.thecherita.com/articles/ from our website. Her essay is the second one down.

Her vision of, and for cherita, was spot on and the genre continues to spread its wings into areas and places I could not have dreamt possible, and has, it appears, also beguiled poets and writers into opening up all their senses and consciousness in the most natural of ways to tell and share their timeless stories.

My gratitude to Penny is boundless.

February 2025 sees the launch of snowfall, cherita 95 and just before dark, gembun Anthology 17.

There are now 95 anthologies of the cherita, and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 17 Gembun Anthologies, and 12 Dua Anthologies, with more soon on their way.

www.thecherita.com/bookshop/

snowfall is our 95th 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.

snowfall showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Italy.

snowfall, currently 95th 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.

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/ Roy Kindelberger/ Bill Waters/ Larry Kimmel/ Diane Funston/ Kathabela Wilson/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Partha Sarkar/ Pitt Büerken/ Teri Messmer/ Paulette Calasibetta/ Jackie Chou/ Karina Klesko/ Nicholas Gentile/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Joanna Ashwell/ Michelle Farrell/ Dan Schwerin/ Barun Saha/ C.X. Turner/ Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ Biswajit Mishra/ Daniel W. Brown/ Ceri Marriott/ Barbara Anna Gaiardoni/ Debbie Strange/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

all in black

the people
in

this room
you would have
hated the colour

ai li

pocket jungle

how deep
is the darkness
of a root

freshly woven
around my fingers

Joanna Ashwell

I read
between the lines

it’s the moment
I learn
fear

her suicide note

Jan Stretch

lost
from his heart

I sleep in sorrow

an
oyster’s
pearl

Karina Klesko

you speak to me

when I’m light years
away

searching
the Milky Way
for stardom

Jackie Chou

your touch

over
morning coffee

lingers
throughout
the day

Barry J. Vitcov

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

Karina Klesko/ Partha Sarkar/ Dan Schwerin/ Neena Singh/ Daniel W. Brown/ Barun Saha/ Joanna Ashwell/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Nicholas Gentile/ Roy Kindelberger/

just before dark is our gembun anthology 17, and it appears alongside snowfall this month.

just before dark, our 17th Gembun Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Pakistan and China.

I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find just before dark a worthy read.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

ai li/ James Haddad/ Nicholas Gentile/ Pitt Büerken/ Joanna Ashwell/ Jan Stretch/ Kathabela Wilson/ Maria Tosti / kris moon kondo/ Hifsa Ashraf/ Jackie Chou/ Tracy Davidson/

a gem has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition :

James Haddad/ Nicholas Gentile/ Pitt Büerken/ Joanna Ashwell/ Jan Stretch/ Hifsa Ashraf/ Kathabela Wilson/

Six sample virgin gembun from this anthology :-

a red
bougainvillea petal
dancing in the air

as if at a ball

James Haddad

when life
becomes a duet
with myself

smiles in the mirror

kris moon kondo

waiting

I imagine
you are part
of the storm

Pitt Büerken

another year

his being
like
autumn leaves

Nicholas Gentile

precious

those days
of love
lost

Jan Stretch

reed basket

holding
the tide
water lilies

Joanna Ashwell

This is February’s update on the cherita award :

Here six virgin cherita from sandalwood dreaming, one of my cherita books, to hopefully inspire and guide you to the many possibilities possible with my storytelling genre in 6 lines.

losing sight

of
who i was

when rain
arrives
with the sky

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

dusk

a widow
by

the old river
now you see her
now you . . .

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

at the old crossroads

i say a prayer
for the unmarked graves

a light kiss
on my forehead
from the breeze

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

the men
who used
to visit

are long gone

quiet
is her winter

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

late into december

i spy mistletoe
my lips

again brushed
by the absent years
of yours

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

you broke my wings

a long time ago
but i kept all the feathers

and released
them back
to the sky

ai li
from sandalwood dreaming

Here’s February 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 18-20 :

Anthology 18 has just been completed and will now require a final proof reading.

Anthology 19 is coming along beautifully and Anthology 20 has just joined the stable.

Meanwhile, do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

The Gembun Anthologies 1 – 17 [snow clouds, evening, paper talisman, windswept rain, deepening night, the old, white flowers, coming home, bedtime story, rain song, ice storm, belonging, the water, dancing silhouette, empty bottles, i remember and just before dark] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your amazing enthusiasm and strong faith for, and in this genre.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is February 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 13-16 :

Anthologies 13 and 14 are now awaiting final proof readings.

Anthology 15 and 16 are coming along beautifully with your timeless dua.

All Dua Anthologies 1 – 12 [remembering, I know the way, the light dying, the rain, something rare, all is dark, listening to the ocean, no longer sky, home in rain wildflowers were here, in the room and hammock afternoon] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your faith in Dua and your creative flair for telling stories even more minimally than Cherita and Gembun.
Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.
You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
and on www.aili.co.uk/dua
If you have written dua that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.
Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Dua for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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

1 January 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]

when it rains
cherita 94
edited by ai li

*
hammock afternoon
dua anthology 12
edited by ai li

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

There are now over 3900 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2200 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’.

Before I can say once upon a time, 2025 will have arrived. Back on terra firma after my long break, I’ve been looking back at all the images I captured whilst away and have decided to share with you two other amazing experiences. When our international flights were cancelled by British Airways without much notice or explanation, I had to frantically scramble to find alternative flights to take us to our proposed destination and back without forfeiting or cancelling all our other connecting flights.

Malaysia Airlines, who happened to have available seats, came to our rescue for the dates I needed.

When I boarded my 14 hour direct flight for Kuala Lumpur, I was met with the crew dressed in a bewitching collection of ‘Heritage in the Skies’ Malaysia Airlines colourful uniforms from their past. This hommage was only for a few weeks and I was fortunate enough to have experienced it. I was suddenly nostalgic, recalling that my parents and other loved ones who are no longer with us must have seen the original sarong kebayas gracing the service in the air all those decades ago. I felt them close, thousands of feet in the night air, and that was a comforting feeling.

There was more to come. On our return journey, I was personally welcomed by the tall inflight supervisor in her red sarong kebaya. When I looked up at her, my eyes somehow went to her name tag, and to my great surprise, discovered that her name was Ai Li. She confessed that she and her crew were startled when they saw my name on the passenger list, and it was a first for her, meeting someone with the same name. And it was for me too. We both did manage to have a long chat [it was a 14 hour direct flight] when she wasn’t busy, and further discovered that our families were originally from the Fujian province in China with Hokkien being our main dialect.

Wow, I now know why our BA flight was cancelled. I’ve never believed in coincidences but that’s another story.

Here are two links which elaborate on the Malaysia Airlines ‘Heritage in the Skies’ hommage:

https://www.malaysiaairlines.com/sg/en/mh-media-centre/news-releases/2024/showcases-evolution-of-Iconic-sarong-kebaya.html

https://www.tiktok.com/@bibiaziahzaini/video/7433021570236353810

January 2025 sees the launch of when it rains, cherita 94 and hammock afternoon, Dua Anthology 12 to welcome in the new year.

when it rains is our 12th book for 2024 of our eighth year. 94 anthologies of the cherita are now in existence and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 16 Gembun Anthologies, and 12 Dua Anthologies, with more soon on their way.

*
when it rains is our 94th 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.

when it rains showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, India and Italy.

when it rains, currently 94th 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.

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/ Peter Jastermsky/ Michelle Farrell/ Jennifer Rood/ Pitt Büerken/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Sharon Hawley/ Tim Callahan/ James Haddad/ Jan Stretch/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Lee Hudspeth/ Karina Klesko/ Partha Sarkar/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Roy Kindelberger/ Bill Waters/ Debbie Strange/ Teri Messmer/ Thomas DeFreitas/ Paulette Calasibetta/ Nicholas Gentile/ Barbara Anna Gaiardoni/ Barun Saha/ Joanna Ashwell/ Diane Funston/

Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

far down the street

he saw them step
behind
an ancient maple

and he knew they
kissed

Larry Kimmel

speaking
for myself

the part
that forgives
me

not

Peter Jastermsky

sorting through

the paint tubes
on my desk

I wonder
what colours my pain
will be today

Debbie Strange

seven cups
since the morning

the coffee maker
in the pantry
pouring

your perfume

Barun Saha

laying on a bed
of pine needles

soft and cool

listening
to your piano
take me home

Teri Messmer

in
the forest

life

still finds
a way
to bloom

Diane Funston

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

Sharon Hawley/ Tim Callahan/ James Haddad/ Barry J. Vitcov/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Larry Kimmel/ Bill Waters/ Teri Messmer/ Debbie Strange/ Joanna Ashwell/

hammock afternoon is our dua anthology 12, and it appears alongside when it rains this month.

hammock afternoon, our 12th Dua Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, India and Canada.

Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

Pitt Büerken/ ai li/ Richa Sharma/ Bryan Rickert/ Vidya Premkumar/ Jan Stretch/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ nisa/ Norma Bradley/ Shrehya Taneja/ Dr. Vikas Sehra/ Partha Sarkar/ Prashanth V/

a dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition for their dua moonbeams :

Pitt Büerken/ Jan Stretch/ Bryan Rickert/ Norma Bradley/ Shrehya Taneja/

Six sample virgin dua from this anthology :-

end of summer

browning leaves at my feet

Norma Bradley

nostalgia tomorrow

born today

Jan Stretch

at the end of the wooden pier

whereto?

Pitt Büerken

out of each page

a butterfly

Richa Sharma

the wind telling a story

about its power

ai li

in the broken mirror

my true self

Bryan Rickert

This is January’s update on the cherita award :

I have selected for you another six virgin cherita from my cherita books the river dark, nothingness and the morning songs to hopefully inspire you and guide you to wider avenues of possibilities with the genre.

I hope these cherita will further inspire you, should you decide to submit your virgin cherita for the cherita award. We now have Joanna Ashwell and Ceri Marriott, our first two Cherita Award recipients with river lanterns and soirée, their respective books. Who will be our next Cherita Award poet?

sleep

it will come
when the piano player downstairs

gets nat king cole
to walk his baby
back home

ai li
from the river dark

*
a found catapult

in
childhood’s drawer

the tree
and child
long gone

ai li
from the river dark

the colour
vermilion

i can be
oriental tonight
on the terrace

of paper lanterns

ai li
from nothingness

*
fairy ring

i wait
until dusk

to become
a child
again

ai li
from nothingness

i listen
to a song

the mountains
about
collecting firewood

ai li
from the morning songs

there will be
snow tonight

your face
will be
at

the window

ai li
from the morning songs

Here’s January 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 17-19 :

Anthology 17 has had its final proof reading by me. I just need to find the right slot for it.

Anthology 18 has just been completed and will also require a final proof reading.

Anthology 19 is coming along beautifully.

Meanwhile, do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

The Gembun Anthologies 1 – 16 [snow clouds, evening, paper talisman, windswept rain, deepening night, the old, white flowers, coming home, bedtime story, rain song, ice storm, belonging, the water, dancing silhouette, empty bottles and i remember] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your amazing enthusiasm and strong faith for, and in this genre.

Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

Here too, is January 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 13-16 :

Anthologies 13 and 14 are complete and awaiting final proof readings by me.

Anthology 15 and 16 meanwhile, have been growing with your timeless dua.

www.thecherita.com/dua

Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

*
General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

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