Carpe Diem #659, Servant's Day (Yabu-iri)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This is our last episode of January and I haven't published our new prompt-list, because it isn't ready to publish. I hope to publish the new prompt-list tomorrow. It will be another nice month I think and to tell you a little bit more about our new month ... it's all about Impressions.

As I am preparing this new episode I realize that I had to do a "Time Machine" episode ... well that new "Time Machine" episode I migrate to February 7th, the first Saturday of the next month. Ok ... back to our classical kigo for New Year of today. Today our prompt is Servant's Day (Yabu-iri). 

Yabu-iri, literally "thicket-entering," is an obscure season marker in haiku for spring (or late New Year). On about the sixteenth of the first month, servants and apprentices were allowed to go home for a short visit. This would have meant that the holiday started  with the full moon. In Issa’s haiku:

yabu-iri no waza to kureshi ya kusa no tsuki

Ending the Servant’s Holiday
on purpose ...
sliver moon

© Issa

the final slip of moon means the holiday is over, which tells us it lasted less than two weeks (Lanoue, 1991-2009: moon,1803). There also was a second servants’ holiday on the sixteenth of the sixth or seventh month, but yabu-iri in haiku was codified as an early spring kigo (or late New Year kigo).

And here is a haiku composed by Buson on the same kigo:

yabu- iri ya  mamori- bukuro o  wasure kusa

Apprentice’s holiday:
a good-luck amulet
forgotten in the grass

© Buson

This is really a classical kigo, because I think this kind of custom will not be in use anymore, but maybe I am wrong ....

farewell cherry blossoms,

the servants have abandoned me,

will you bloom again?

© Chèvrefeuille

Pff ... that wasn't easy to compose ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 2nd at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, ??????, later on.

Share your haiku inspired on this classical kigo with us all here at our Haiku Kai.

1.	純粋	8.	Haiku Plate Special	15.	opie houston
2.	Mark M. Redfearn	9.	kanzensakura	16.	jazzytower
3.	Pirate	10.	Paloma (WP)	17.	Leslie Moon
4.	A Creative Harbor	11.	Paloma (B)	18.	kaykuala
5.	Mish	12.	Bastet	19.	Tournesol
6.	JazzBumpa	13.	B i r g i t t a	20.	Sara McNulty
7.	Lovely Thing's Tanka	14.	Suzanne

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