The arrival of a new year often invites us to look forward, but it also asks a quieter question: what do we bring with us as time turns?
In “What We Carry into the New Year”, Cathy Xinman writes not from innocence, but from memory—from a sweetness that has survived winter, time, and the knowledge of hurt. This poem does not celebrate renewal as erasure; instead, it lingers on what remains: tenderness, belief, and a chosen joy carried into the light. Through intimate imagery of earth, season, and touch, Xinman offers a meditation on hope that is neither naïve nor loud, but deeply human—like candy tasted slowly at the threshold of a new beginning.
What We Carry into the New Year
by Cathy Xinman
Yes, I remember—
Earth, when I first encountered you,
you did not hold so many secrets.
My feet and the eagle’s feet
roamed freely here alike.
Spring was the same everywhere.
My mouth and the buds’ mouths
were both half-open.
The wind did not need to shake the branches
for strings of innocence and joy to fall,
like eating candy at the New Year.
Yes, my beloved—
can you smell it?
Look, the sweetness still lingers in my mouth.
I walk through a winter without shadows.
Bare branches lie as calm as lake water,
filling a basin of time.
I remember light that bore wounds,
like an invincible hero walking beside me,
having given itself to longing,
and to spring.
So, trust me.
Come and kiss this earth with me—
kiss this mysterious sky,
kiss the brilliance of the sun,
as one would kiss the rarest gem.
When you believe in me,
your lips will taste of happiness.
So let us speak in the language of love.
It will feel a little sweeter that way.
We may even raise our voices—
not because the wind is strong,
but so that joy may be seen.
I hold you tight with the hands of spring,
as if we possessed
the sky and the sea,
upon bright crystal,
like eating candy at the New Year.
Cathy Xinman writes poetry in English and Chinese. Find her English-language collection, Where You Love Yourself, on Amazon. You can also hear her poetry on her TikTok page. Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
