(with thanks to ai li and Larry Kimmel for their kind permission to reprint their articles here)
his bedtime story
the never ending tales
of enchantment
now you see them
now you don’t
night fairies
ai li
Cherita, the Wikipedia Entry Written by ai li
Cherita (pronounced CHAIR-rita) is a linked poetry form of one-, two-, and three-line stanzas.
Cherita is the Malay word for "story" or "tale". A cherita consists of a one-line stanza, followed by a two-line stanza, and then finishing with a three-line stanza. It can either be written solo or by up to three partners.
The cherita tells a story. It was created by ai li on June 22, 1997 in memory of her grandparents who were raconteurs extraordinaire. It was also inspired by Larry Kimmel's sensitive recognition of a shorter form contained within the opening three-verse stanza of ai li's LUNENGA, which was created May 27, 1997.
The cherita arose out of the English-language haiku and tanka tradition, but is more anecdotal, or nano-narrative, in nature than are the “momentary” haiku and the more lyrical tanka, though it is easily adaptable to lyrical expression. It is imagistic and depends on conciseness and suggestion for its effect.
Example
4 pm
a cuckoo clock
bringing forest into afternoon
the crumbs i leave
sitting on
their own shadows
References
Gilli, Ferris, "
A Cherita Journey",
Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America, Fall 2012, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p 55
Sketchbook, 4:2, March/April 2009
Published examples
Sketchbook March/April 2010
"in thinking about what a cherita has been to me, one thing I've noticed in writing them is that they have a 'beginning' a 'middle' and an 'end.' and one way [in which] they work well, is to have that [first] line be brief and [used to] set the scene, [give] the tone, etc. the next two lines are the body of the poem, and then (and I think this is important) the last 3 lines, obviously the end, should be fairly short, the climax and denouement in one. this gives it impact. even if the ending is one phrase, it can be broken to fit the form. i think that when the end spreads too much, say, into Whitmanesque lines, what one has is a free form poem put into 1/2/3/ line verses. the essence of the cherita is brevity. it grew out of the haiku [and renku] experience, and I feel it should retain something of that brevity and elliptical phrase and fragment quality. to me that is the essence of cherita. it often has a story, or anecdotal, quality, though I believe it can be used as a lyrical form, as well. but I stress it needs the same care as in writing a haiku. though no exact syllable count has been imposed, it is about haiku length or less in each of its verses. the first line, perhaps, being the exception. it is as short as a single line of a haiku. of course, this is my own opinion, and as it is a new form there is a lot of room for experimentation. to me the beauty of the form, and the game, if you like, of the form, is to see how concise i can be. there is power in conciseness."
Examples of Cherita from Larry Kimmel's Webpage, Cherita:
after seeing you off
taking the path along
the canal
a rustle of
leaves
underfoot
Larry Kimmel
loveless
under
a stingy moon
the cotton sheets
between my legs
are wet
ai li
unruly sun
this tangle of sheets
about me. . .not my own
from the ceiling
a stranger's reflection
smiling down
sheila windsor
Selected Cherita by Chen-ou Liu
faint mist, gloomy clouds
sorrow surrounds the day
who can take a poem
beyond the Pacific
a calligraphy of geese
flies against the sky
Sketchbook, 5:1, January / February 2011
a night of Haitian ruins
the silence grows teeth
grinding noises
pierce my throat
but my hand
ends a sentence
Sketchbook, 6:2, March/April 2011
Note: The Wikipedia definition of cherita has been tweaked by Larry Kimmel. Below is the original definition by ai li:
CHERITA [1--2--3]
[pronounced CHAIR-rita]
Cherita is the Malay word for story or tale. A Cherita consists of a single stanza of a one-line verse, followed by a two-line verse, and then finishing with a three-line verse. It can either be written solo or with up to three partners.
The Cherita tells a story. It was created by ai li on the 22 June 1997 in memory of her grandparents who were raconteurs extraordinaire. It was also inspired by Larry Kimmel's sensitive recognition of a shorter form contained within the opening three-verse stanza of ai li's LUNENGA, which had been created on the 27.
