Here we are at the very end of November with a final flourish of a farewell to Autumn and a beckoning wave to the oncoming winter in the Northern hemisphere. This extract from “November for Beginners” by Rita Dove encapsulates the feeling many of us have at this seasonal cusp:-

“Snow would be the easy
way out—that softening
sky like a sigh of relief
at finally being allowed
to yield. No dice.
We stack twigs for burning
in glistening patches
but the rain won’t give.

So we wait, breeding
mood, making music
of decline. We sit down
in the smell of the past
and rise in a light
that is already leaving….”

Listen to the crisp, dry imagism in Amy Lowell’s “November”:

“The vine leaves against the brick walls of my house,
Are rusty and broken.
Dead leaves gather under the pine-trees,
The brittle boughs of lilac-bushes
Sweep against the stars.
And I sit under a lamp
Trying to write down the emptiness of my heart…”

And for many of us that same tired, barrenness effects our Muse and so for today’s MTB prompt, we are writing one of the most unrestrained, undemanding poetry forms – The Cherita. Developed by ai li on the 22 June 1997 it continues to garner submissions year on year from poets who like this form.

“cherita

is
the breath

of
a story
made concrete”

copyright © ai li 2021

Form: the Cherita is a consecutive poetry form in three stanzas: a single line; a couplet; a tercet
[Rules are that it can be written solo or by up to three partners as well as being reversed in various combinations (called a cherita terbalik )] BUT for this prompt :-

• Write your Cherita as a mirrored/reflected 2 part form
• 1;2;3; and a second part of 3;2;1 line stanzas

Style:

• No descriptive title – so title yours as either ‘Untitled’ or ‘A Cherita’
• there should not be any rhymes
• there are no syllable restrictions
• line lengths are your own discretion
• centred on the page (optional)

Content: The Cherita effectively tells a story – concise but imagist, as in a vignette.
Your reflected form makes some connection between the two parts

Approach: write in a semi meditative state with minimal editing

Helpful links:
Cherita knowhow – some examples

So once you have posted your poem according to the topic’s guidelines above, do add it to Mr Linky below then go visiting and reading other contributors as that is half the fun of our dVerse gatherings.