Year of the Fire Horse 丙午
Another day,
and the beginning of
another Lunar New Year.
The stagnant Wood Snake
has shed its skin
and slips into shadow.
Now
long ma jing shen.
The Fire Horse arrives
not slithering,
but galloping,
hooves striking sparks
on the earth,
mane a banner
in the wind of change:
Old structures and frameworks
Broken.
What was rigid
bends.
What was closed
opens.
They say the Horse
should have won the Great Race,
the one that measured
Yuan Shi Tian Zun’s time.
A creature of power,
it crossed the land,
swam the river,
and stood at victory’s edge.
But the Snake,
slight and silent,
had wrapped itself
around the Horse’s leg.
Upon reaching the shore,
it uncoiled.
The Horse, startled
by what it could not see,
reared back.
In that neigh of panic
the others surged ahead:
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon
and the Snake.
Now we learn this:
Even the swiftest
can be undone by surprise.
Even the strongest
must learn to look down.
So what of this year
the Fire Horse’s return,
its run bookended
by rings of fire in the sky?
This is not a year
for wilfully looking away.
The Horse’s nature is instinct,
its speed a form of truth.
It does not pretend.
It does not wait for permission.
It moves
because movement is the answer.
But it also knows:
Stampeding
is not the same
as arriving.
So pause.
Look down.
See what has fastened itself in silence.
Know your direction
before you commit
your strength to it.
And some say,
Lucky numbers: 1, 4, 9.
Lucky colours: gold, green, red.
Choose them,
if it helps you remember
what you are running toward.
And when the year grows loud
with the clapping of hooves,
stop.
Ask yourself:
Am I galloping
or am I choosing
where to land?
新年好
Further Reading: Millennials think the year of the fire horse will save them.