What is “The Brave Spring”?
It is knowing it comes from the cold, yet choosing to give the world a “coating of sugar”. It is hearing the fiery passage of old and new at midnight, yet still believing that hooves will arrive at dawn.
In this New Year’s ode for the Year of the Horse, the poem weaves a warm fable around the thread of “sugar”. As spring walks from one home to another, from one door to the next, what is sprinkled is not merely blessings—but a choice: the choice to see precious joys growing in an ordinary spring, the choice to become “the child of the new year”, the choice to let love and unity be freshly born. This is a poem you can “taste”.
After reading, the heart glows with sweetness.
The Brave Spring: A New Year’s Greeting
by Cathy Xinman
You once were filled with sorrow,
But today, with renewed sun and moon,
I see precious joys
Growing quietly in an ordinary spring.
What is it you wish to sing?
What is it I wish to reveal?
If only bread and sugar are needed,
I hope to write elegant poems
To share with everyone.
Ah, spring awakens at midnight,
I hear warm kisses,
The fiery passage of old to new,
Courageous hooves await the dawn
Amidst the crackling firecrackers.
Spring always arrives from the cold,
I give everything a coating of sugar,
Like dressing them in winter clothes.
Come, share sweets and blessings,
The horses leap with joy —
Ah, sugar is a gift, a greeting.
From one home to another,
From one door to the next,
I am sprinkled with fine sugar —
A sweetness that whispers welcome.
And the newly awakening spring
Dances quietly in the shadows.
It has fallen for your beauty,
I wish to share this sugar with everyone.
Horses gallop toward the new day,
leaping among the stars.
The new year is born for you,
Spring opens for you, pouring blessings upon you.
Ah, the newly born spring,
The child of the new year,
The freshly born love and unity,
Resilience and joy
For today and forever.
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. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
