First Morning Sun Gembun

awake alone to the year’s first morning sun. 

in the mirror 

this familiar stranger … 

a burst of birdsong

The Bougainvillea Journal, 1, 2026

Lean Stray Haiku

a lean stray scratches

at its frosted shadow ...

end of the year

Leaf Haiku, 9, 2026

First Light Haiku

first light of the year

in my dead father’s footsteps…

a dream, and alive

5-7-5 Haiku Journal, January 30 2026

Chinese New Year's Dream Haiku

I run with the horse

toward sunlight through storm clouds

new year's dream, yet lives

NeverEnding Story, February 17 2026

FYI: 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.

Added:

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.

Old and New, New ... Then Old ?

home alone

I listen to the snowlight

from last year

another new year

I meet the stranger’s gaze

in the mirror

the same resolution

with a different weight

first sunrise tinged gray

New Year’s fireworks …

the room quiet before

quieter after

NeverEnding Story, December 31 2025

Rainbow Flowers of Light Tanka

written in response to The Guardian, December 31: Sydney New Year’s Eve strikes sombre tone as fireworks follow minute’s silence for Bondi Beach Victims

Peace, Unity

lit on the bridge’s high pylon

while Sydney pauses ...

rainbow flowers of light

bloom in the midnight sky

NeverEnding Story, December 31 2025

FYI: The Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati are the first to ring in the New Year. New Zealand is next, followed by Australia, Japan, and South Korea)

Added:

On the Threshold

firework-lit skies ...

each year the same, and yet

each year different

first sunrise gleaming 

I high-five my reflection

in the new mirror

New Year's Shower Haiku

new year’s shower

soap foam slips from my hand

to her breast

The Solitary Daisy, 43, 2025

New Year's Reverie Haiku

Re-Homing in the Maple Land, XXXIV 

New Year's reverie ...

I unzip my yellow skin

for a fair one

NeverEnding Story, January 29 2025

And reprinted in Hexagon, October, 2025

Year of the Snake Haiku

snake charmer's flute song

as bright as New Year's sunshine

my baby's laughter

NeverEnding Story, January 28 2025

New Year's Eve Poems

written in response to Angelo B. Ancheta's new year's eve tanka:

the column of sparks 

from the fountain rises 

on New Year's eve 

how do I start this time 

with an end

NeverEnding Story, December 31, 2024

Angelo B. Ancheta

Here are my "reflections" on this dying disaster/war-plagued year, 2024:

Personal:

shock after shock

until the end of this year

soul-exiled

from this over-eventful world

with eyes closed, I see myself

Socio-cultural:

However, most of us are just celebrating/singing...

auld lang syne ...

white lie after white lie

as we toast the days

reprinted in Asahi Haikuist Network, Feb. 21 2025

A Makeover

oh, you speak well

where are you really from?

behind the fence

my neighbor, a native speaker

of the weasel language 

this dream loop,

a moment in Taipei

then next in Ajax ...

mental quicksand where

the past drowns the present

another round

of armed conflict in the news

as a new year starts

I ponder the endings

in my immigrant life

Ribbons, 20:2, Autumn/Winter 2024

The Cost of Writing

My friend, Chen-ou

I used to enjoy writing these Oliverian lines:

alone

linger for a while

out of a busy day

for the bluethroats

that have gathered among reeds

bordering the edges of the wetland

for a musical battle

to see who can sing the richest note

tacc, tacc and a hweet

Now, in order to hear the birds

the fighter jets and rolling fireballs

must be silent, be silent

I just want to be alive

on this fresh morning

in the world of broken hearts

fireballs drown out

my bloodied friend's question

what use is poetry?

I'm startled awake

this snowy New Year's morning

Drifting in and out of my daymare, he looks markedly thinner and paler. There is hunger in his eyes and ... in his heart.

Contemporary Haibun Online, 20:1, 2024

All of Yesterday in Me

year-end snowfall ...

these pieces

of my immigrant life

"Please empty me out. Let me be a receiving vessel," the voice in my mind becomes loud ...and louder.

first sunshine ...

the snowbanks of yesteryear

between neighbors

"If something comes from outside of me, then I'm not alone, am I?" I murmur to myself on this fresh morning in this fragmented world.

Contemporary Haibun Online, 20:1, 2024

Year-End Dinner Haiku

table for one

barely above a whisper …

year-end dinner

Ink, Sweat and Tears, Jan. 28 2024

One More Glass Senryu

one more glass 

to make it this year's last ...

pre-AA meeting

tsuri-dōrō, 19, Jan/Feb 2024

Dragon Crystal Haiku

the red glow

of a dragon crystal ...

New Year's sunrise

NeverEnding Story, January 10 2024

FYI: "As a symbol of joy, celebration, vitality, success and good fortune, red is the luckiest color in Chinese culture. It's often used in important events such as weddings and festivals like Chinese New Year.

And the Year of the Dragon is believed to embody power, strength, good luck , and wisdom."

And my haiku could be read as a sequel to Marion's below:

New Year's sky

seeking that first

ray of light

NeverEnding Story, January 10 2024

Marion Clarke 

Uneventful Day after Day after Day Tanka

snowflakes

swirl ... then stop

uneventful

day after day after day

as Chinese New Year nears

NeverEnding Story, February 8 2024

Another Year Tanka

This Brave New World, CXXXVII 

another year

amidst screaming sirens ...

sunflowers

on the bomb shelter wall

no longer noticed

NeverEnding Story, December 31 2023

Added: This Brave New World, CXXXVIII 

air raid sirens ...

Ukraine is alive, Ukraine fights

again at sunrise

FYI: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's New Year Address: Ukraine is alive. Ukraine lives. Ukraine fights. Ukraine advances, Ukraine overcomes the path. Ukraine gains. Ukraine works. Ukraine exists. And all together, this is not a New Year's miracle, not a fairy tale, not magic, but the merit of each of you.

Added:

new year's sunshine

the same resolution

with a different weight

Added: reading between the lives and writing between the lines, LXXXI

anything new?

the Christmas tree off

to be mulched

and the champagne gone flat 

after New Year's fireworks

FYI: This could be read as a sequel to the following:

shelling peas --

each passing year

like the one before

tinywords, Dec. 29 2023

Sanjuktaa

Added: This Brave New World, CXXXIX

written in response to Barbie, the highest-grossing film of 2023

home, sweet home

in a new year's dream

pink-lit Barbie Land

Midnight Fireworks Haiku

I look at the sky

having lost another year ...

midnight fireworks

NeverEnding Story, December 31 2023

Added: This Brave New World, CXXXV 

firework after firework

as the clock has struck midnight

rainbow flowers 

light up Toronto's sky

unlike the one over Gaza

Added: This Brave New World, CXXXVI

for 12-year-old Palestinian girl, Layan Abu Kuwaik

my home town

in a new year's dream

sun-dappled hills

FYI: Democracy Now, Jan.2 : Death Toll in Gaza Tops 22,000 as Biden Bypasses Congress to Send More Munitions to Israel

...God willing, in 2024, I wish when I wake up on January 1st to discover that this was all a dream, to wake up at home on January 1st, for the war to end, for our suffering to end, for this tragedy to end...

List of Resolutions Senryu

snowonsnow ...

the list of resolutions

renewed and shorter

Failed Haiku, 8:85, January 2023