Poems to Celebrate the Lunar New Year
To welcome the Year of the Snake, we're sharing six poems from Asian and Asian-Australian poets.
Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, marks the beginning of a lunar calendar year. Celebrated across the globe, Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays for many Asian cultures. It's a time to celebrate, reunite with family, share food, and wish for good fortune in the year ahead. The 2025 Lunar New Year welcomes the Year of the Snake.
On month into the Year of the Snake — the sixth of the twelve animals in Chinese zodiac — we've put together a list of six poems from a line-up of diverse and immensely talented Asian and Asian-Australian poets.
Read the poems
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After the Wreck
By Eileen Chong'Don't shoot me. I am a British object.'
James Morrill, 1863
Drawknives. Spar gauge. Caulking irons -
Losing battle
By Ouyang YuEnglish is not fighting a losing battle
I am
You’ll have to hear this to know
What it is like to live and teach -
Rituals
By Joanna YangI open the door, hand resting on the frame as a chill travels to the front of my legs
my back hunched into a C
could it be
you can answer my plea -
Hi Mum, It's Me
By Jennifer Wong'In 2022, Australians are believed to have lost over $7 million through the now-notorious ‘Hi Mum’ text scam, which dupes victims into sending money to cybercriminals posing as their children.' (SBS News)
“Hi Mum, it’s me,
Your child -
Việt Nam Postcards
By Jake DennisHo Hoàn Kiém, Hà Nội
The Lake of the Returned Sword
Polished smiles—embalmed -
love song & maroochy river
By Sam Quyên Huỳnhfootprints trail your red heels.
I follow you & we traverse
flatland’s wind-wrinkled skin.
