Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Saehae Bok Mani Padusey!

the annual Lunar New Year poem! Year of the Monkey!

Under the shadow of the new moon, a young monkey's lips find his mother's full bosom for the first time.

While he sucks, she grooms him creating rows through his hair like the young rice plantings in the valley below.

Atop the hill, a ram long lost from the herd rests, lays his heavy horned head while a light snow blankets him for the last time.

His nostrils twitch slightly from the fragrence of 3 incense sticks that burn next to rice cakes

and a cup of water where tea leaves unfurl the

future.