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.