1 August 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]
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sound asleep
cherita 101
edited by ai li
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country lane
gembun anthology 19
edited by ai li
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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 5000 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 3200 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’.
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I have for you our Cherita 101 – sound asleep is for August 2025 and country lane is our Gembun Anthology 19.
There are now 101 anthologies of the cherita, and they are all available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 19 Gembun Anthologies, and 15 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.
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sound asleep is our Book 101 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.
sound asleep showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, Japan, France, Canada, Germany, Italy and India.
sound asleep, currently 101 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/ Karina Klesko/ Peter Jastermsky/ Roy Kindelberger/ Teri Messmer/ kris moon kondo/ Timothy Daly/ Larry Kimmel/ Ceri Marriott/ Taura Scott/ Diane Funston/ Kathabela Wilson/ Jackie Chou/ Robert Horrobin/ Nicholas Gentile/ Norma Bradley/ Joanna Ashwell/ Jan Stretch/ Eva Joan/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Leon Tefft/ Arvinder Kaur/ Penny Lowery/ Pitt Büerken/ Laughing Waters/ Barbara Anna Gaiardoni/ Jim Niffen/ Isabella Kramer/ Leslie Umans/ Partha Sarkar/
Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-
a route to nothing
the path
hovers in the gap
between ocean
and river –
elsewhere
Penny Lowery
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stay until
the poems
empty
the poems
until you
empty
Peter Jastermsky
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I listen
to an audiobook
washing up
the dishes
and my mind
Timothy Daly
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almost sunset
orange hues
in the fireplace your letters
can’t stay warm
in
this empty room
Laughing Waters
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walking
with the rain
at my back
the winter wind
follows me
home
Robert Horrobin
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always leaving
a lantern
ready for snow
the sway
of a storm
scattering stars
Joanna Ashwell
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the cherita lighthouse has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :
Peter Jastermsky/ kris moon kondo/ Timothy Daly/ Ceri Marriott/ Kathabela Wilson/ Taura Scott/ Lee Hudspeth/ Teri Messmer/ Joanna Ashwell/ Patricia Allen Smith/ Leon Tefft/ Arvinder Kaur/ Laughing Waters/ Isabella Kramer/ Pitt Büerken/ Leslie Umans/
sound asleep has been edited to be experienced two ways. It can be read as a storybook and as an anthology of individual poems.
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country lane is our gembun anthology 19, and it appears alongside sound asleep this month.
country lane, our 19th Gembun Anthology with 90 virgin Gembun poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, India and Australia.
I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find country lane a worthy read.
Featured Poets as they appear in this anthology:
ai li/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Kathabela Wilson/ Seretta Martin/ Pitt Büerken/ Partha Sarkar/ Nicholas Gentile/ Keitha Keyes/ Michael H. Brownstein/ James Haddad/Patricia Allen Smith/ Taura Scott/ Karina Klesko/ Eva Joan/ Joanna Ashwell/ Sharon Hawley/ Liz Goetz/ Jackie Chou/
a gem has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology:
Michael H. Brownstein/ Eva Joan/ Karina Klesko/ Nicholas Gentile/
Six sample virgin gembun from country lane :-
neither a breeze
nor a birdsong
interrupt
the vagaries of solitude
Karina Klesko
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country lane
and the smell
of woodsmoke
but no one’s home
ai li
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my art studio
built in dreams
has no walls
a playground of windows
Seretta Martin
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i’ve always lived
in someone’s
shadow
the neighbor’s red maple
Jackie Chou
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her mother’s
necklace
on her
my daughter
Pitt Büerken
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memory
this cigarette
behind
his ear
Eva Joan
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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
copyright © ai li 2025