Six lines, three stanzas, one little tale: Crafting a cherita

Open Write is a community celebration of poetry—an invitation to write, read, and reflect together. You’re welcome to write a poem a day or to come and go as you need. Reading and leaving a brief note—a line you loved, an image that stayed, a feeling a poem stirred—is also a meaningful way to participate. This is a generous, low-pressure space. We’re glad you’re here.

Our Host

Joel /hō-ÉL/ Garza called roll for the first time on Monday, August 23, 1993. He lives in Dallas, where he teaches high school English at Greenhill School. He also teaches Fiction Writing as well as Race, Culture, and Community through Global Online Academy. He writes each day with his students, sometimes posting things to the interwebs. When he is not teaching, Joel reads, drinks coffee, and basks in the glow of his wife, three kids, and a cocker spaniel.

Inspiration 

To quote the one thing I’ve read by Ludwig Wittgenstein, “How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life!” Poetry is the genre for these small, life-filling thoughts. 

My studies taught me that many poetic forms winnow down in length as they ramp up in meaning. A sonnet’s couplet, a sestina’s envoi, a haiku’s closing pivot, a villanelle’s quatrain – you get the idea & the impact: As the form gets smaller, the idea feels more potent, more provocative. There are exceptions. Exceptions like the cherita. 

The Singapore-born London-based poet ai li created the cherita on 22 June 1997. A cherita (Malay for “story”or “tale”) is a concise form that expands in length with each stanza. Each cherita follows a three-stanza form. 

One one-line stanza, one two-line stanza, and finally, one-three line stanza. A narrow gateway, a path, a terrain. The vista broadens in this story but maintains the power of the briefest of poetic forms.

Process

Remember that the cherita is a story. Aim for a tale that you need to tell (or maybe a tale that you’ve never told). Be as direct as possible in welcoming your reader – one line only. 

As you develop the story, be deliberate and succinct. Two lines only for this middle stanza. 

Finally, resolve with a comparatively expansive meditation on the meaning or mystery of this story. Knock yourself out — A whole three lines!

Perhaps today’s writing will prove to be an exercise in brevity for you. Perhaps it will be a form that emboldens you to be direct and honest – with your reader and with yourself.

Make a list of the narrative anchors of your life – moments when you were no longer jet-skiing across the surface of obligations and responsibilities. Choose one that compels you to drop anchor and dive deeply, bravely, carefully. 

One line. Two lines. Then, three lines. I really love this form, which I have returned to often. Here’s the first one I wrote.  

Joel’s cherita

Driver’s seat by Joel Garza

Once we hit the highway, she said, “I think we should get married.”

Two hundred miles from home. No stops planned. No one else in the car. 
No way for me to avoid what this lovely girl said.

Three hours, two people, one question: How much longer did I need
to know that she was the one? One thing I knew for certain.
She knew how to pick the right moment — and for her, the right guy.

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) 

Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. 

Six lines seems not enough? The poet ai li anticipated that feeling in setting parameters for a cherita terbalik (an inverted cherita). Instead of a pattern of lines that read 1-2-3, aim for this pattern: [3-2-1] [2-1-3] [1-3-2] [2-3-1] and finally [3-1-2]. 

Have an image or link that will enrich the poem? Include it! 

And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. 

Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. 

Finally, keep this community communal – please be sure to respond thoughtfully and kindly to at least three writers.