Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse

My Dear Readers:

Today, the 2026 Lunar New Year welcomes the Year of the Fire Horse—a rare, high-energy convergence in the 60-year zodiac cycle, uniting the dynamic Yang Fire element with the Horse’s innate qualities of speed, independence, and fierce passion. It is a year charged with momentum and transformation, opening wide the door to bold, self-directed action. Yet such intensity carries its own cautions: the risk of burnout, volatility, and sudden upheaval.

I would like to share with you the following new year reflection poems:

Personal:

I run with the horse

toward sunlight through storm clouds

new year's dream, yet lives

Geopolitical: 

Bloody New Year

war news on mute ...

I scream into the dark

yet the night

swallows my fury

in snow-shrouded stillness

No blue sky, no green field — only snow falling. This sound of white on white. The day goes on ...

It is the best of years; it is the worst of years; it is the age of wisdom; it is the age of foolishness; it is the epoch of belief; it is the epoch of incredulity; it is the season of light; it is the season of darkness; it is the spring of hope; it is the winter of despair. We have everything before us, and we have nothing before us.

— Paraphrased from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Added:

New Year noodles

slip off my chopsticks ...

eating alone,

this bittersweet taste

of hometown memories

Added:

I color-code

my New Year's to-do-list

snow on snow ...

Added:

at China Gala

robot after robot lunges

backflips, spins around

jumps, dances to Happy New Year ...

my silence, cold as steel

FYI: The Guardian, Feb. 18 2026:  China’s dancing robots: how worried should we be?

Eye-catching martial arts performance at China gala had viewers and experts wondering what else humanoids can do

Developed by several Chinese robotics firms, the robots performed a range of intricate stunts, including kung fu, comedy sketches and choreographed dance moves alongside human performers.

Clips circulating online quickly drew comparisons with last year’s lunar new year broadcast, which also featured dancing robots but with noticeably simpler movements.