![By Jakub Hałun - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64844306](https://skendongpoetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/480px-Chinese_Zodiac_carvings_on_ceiling_of_Kushida_Shrine_Fukuoka.webp)
year of the tiger 虎
year of the tiger & another day.
they say courageous & daring,
overbearing & thoughtless,
the legendary forest king
supplanted the lion of yesteryear.
your lucky colors: orange & grey.
your lucky numbers 1, 3 & 4.
unlucky things like Ben Ming Nian
swinging round again & again.
what bad luck can you avert?
the ‘God of Age’ star is imaginary.
however, to appease Fan Tai Sui
wear red briefs, red socks, red knickers –
demons don’t like red. a caveat:
you can’t buy red for yourself!
we might as well go all the way
& appease Feng Shui Tai Sui.
adjust the position of your bed,
the desk & the sofa – southwest.
i asked the student: really?
i’ll do my best she said. i was
born in ’86 & the ox that passed
was a dastardly one.