Water Rooster

Lunar New Year fell on Feb 13. Anyone born before that date belongs to the previous year (Monkey).

Roosters are tuned to whether a thing is right. A button done up wrong or numbers that do not add up, and they will say so before they can stop themselves. They work from lists, close the loop, arrive when they said they would, and start to itch if you are ten minutes late. They come across as particular, clear, a little sharp. Half of that sharpness points inward: they are more afraid of being wrong than anyone, so they audit the room first. They would rather be the one who checked than the one who assumed.

Yi is the vine that goes around, You the rooster that speaks on the hour and the metal drawn tight. Water does not arrive from the front; it seeps under the stones and darkens a patch with no visible path. People like this keep things in, working hard where no one is watching. They do not compete to talk, but they keep a schedule inside and deliver on time. You cannot read their progress from the face, only from the finished thing. They rarely raise their voice; the feeling goes into small actions, like straightening a cup.