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​        A million thanks to FS Issue 8's
​        amazing team!

     


      Thank you, Hazel Hall,  for your
   unique  combination of haiku and taichi
​  steps.
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Congratulations to the top three winners and honorable mentions!​

I cannot thank enough the distinguished judge and mother of cherita, ai li, for making this contest a successful and memorable one.  I am honored that she has given Frameless Sky the chance to host the very first cherita contest. Below are her comments about each winning cherita.

THE THREE WINNERS
 
 
FIRST PRIZE
Maryalicia Post  :  Ireland
 

it will come back
 
this word
this poem
 
floating
out of reach
like smoke
 
 
Maryalicia’s cherita is haunting. With just 14 words, she is able to take us into the ethereal world of what the finest short form poem can offer. A good test for me is to always read a cherita out loud. If it flows on one’s tongue with a beginning and an end to the short story – it delivers what the genre is meant to do - which is to take you into the poet’s story world and then making it yours. This cherita will haunt me and you for a very long time to come.
 
  
SECOND PRIZE
Goda V. Bendoraitiene  :  Lithuania
 
 
humility… what is it?

I close my eyes
to find the answer

falling snowflakes
on my face
so pure sky

 
There is a zen quality to this cherita. When I first read it without looking at the author’s name, I did think it may have come from an Oriental writer. How wrong I was. The purity of Goda’s experience with nature reminds us all of the power and majesty of what surrounds us. We are but specks in constant turmoil in the universe. However, Nature just is. It does not pretend to be anything else but itself. It teaches us all how to be authentic in our lives.
 
 
*
 
 
THIRD PRIZE
 
Nicholas Klacsanzky  :  Ukraine
 
 
I could not stop smiling

when I offered open hands
to your lap

no birds were singing
but I could hear a moth
flying towards the moon

 
Nicholas has offered us a moment in time with this night cherita about stillness. There is deep joy here, of being mindful of your surroundings, of being able to find the music that is inherent in the quiet of a moment’s breath. I beg you to read his winning cherita very slowly and savour the moment of the lone moth’s flight.
 
 
 *

 
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
 
Gabriel Bates  :  USA
 
they keep on
telling me

hey, look at the bright side

I walk down an alley
full of cigarette butts
just to see the flowers

 
Here’s a cherita that is close to my heart as I am an urban photographer. I look for the beauty in the everyday, the gifts that genius loci present in my daily path, and the poet here has managed to do just that with his six lines of wonder. He takes the everyday, and shows us a different way of experiencing it which makes the experience ours as well as his. He then infuses it with positive expectation and beauty. Thank you Gabriel.
 
 
 *


HONOURABLE MENTIONS
 
Sonam Chhoki  :  Kingdom of Bhutan
 
your almond tree in bloom

how it lights up
a cold spring dusk

now that we meet
only in dreams
I write you in the stars


We have here a dream cherita for the senses. Sonam takes us into a world where the seemingly impossible seems possible. To be happy once again, to be able to rendezvous with an absent loved one and yet be lucid enough to realise that this joyous realm is all gossamer.
 
  
*
 
 
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
 
Debbie Strange  :  Canada
 
come quickly

the dandelion clocks
are running out of time

if we can make
a few more wishes,
father might come home


Loss is very much a part of our lives whether it is by separation or with death. How we choose to deal with the void can help us mend our fractured world and make it right even if it is only for a few hours or a day. Debbie’s cherita does just that. It instils us with hope and a belief that anything is possible when one comes from a place of love and remembrance.
 
 CLOSING REMARKS FROM AI LI:

 Mad about Cherita – me too and apparently it seems so many of you out there judging from the number of entries, which were close to 400, that I received for the contest.
 
The diversity of writing styles continue to inspire me and believe me, storytelling is very much alive and kicking via cherita which absolutely delighted me. We have Christine L. Villa to thank for her vision and idea for the very first Cherita contest. I hope this will pave the way for even more writers and poets to share their stories with all of us through writing cherita.
 
We have 6 top cherita - three winners and three honourable mentions. Choosing these 6 entries was tough but what was even tougher was having to disappoint other poets with their excellent submitted cherita by not selecting them for the main spots. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who shared their special stories and moments with me.
 
Please keep the campfires burning and do please keep sharing, telling and re-telling your stories which are your legacies for connecting and healing all of us in this chaotic and often cruel world we have to live in.
 
Vive la cherita and cherita terbalik !
 
I would like to leave you with two cherita of mine - one from i left long ago – my first cherita book, and the second from stolen nights – my second cherita book which launched in May 2018 if I may  :-
 
 
the embroidered collar
 
of my cheongsam
one loose thread
 
straying out
of
celestial blue
 
 
 *
 
 
rain has arrived
 
every window pane is wet
you bake his favourite cake
 
cherry madeira
and call memory
in for tea
 
  
A low and deep bow from me to all of you with my heartfelt thanks in my Hokkien dialect and in Malay.
 
 
kam siah and terima kaseh,
 
 
 
ai li
creator of cherita
editor and publisher of the cherita
www.thecherita.com