i spy - the cherita

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

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 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’.

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.

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 :-

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/

i spy 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