Week 21: Silkworms and A Flower Moon

Mark S

May 24

May 20 - May 26 is the 21st week of 2024. This week, we are in the Solar Term of Grain Buds (May 20 - June 04), and the micro-season of "Silkworms Start Feasting on Mulberry Leaves" (May 21 - May 25).

Basho, Issa, Buson, Reichhold, and Kerouac wrote the poems selected for this week.

The 24 Solar Terms

The 24 solar terms were created by farmers in ancient China (206 BCE and 24 CE) to help guide their agricultural activities. Each solar term is 15 days long and is based on the climate around Xi'an, the capital of China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Grain Buds

Grain Buds is the eighth Solar Term of the year and the second Solar Term of Summer. Xiaoman (小满) is the Chinese name for this season. Xiaoman means "The seeds of summer harvest crops begin to bear fruits and their seeds are full, though they are not ripe yet."⁽²⁾ Lesser Fullness of Grain is an alternative translation of this Solar Term.

Seasonal Food: Fish

Grain Buds is a good time for fishing. Because there is heavy rain at this time, the rivers are full and it is easy to harvest fish and shrimp. "A heavy rainfall makes the river full" is a traditional saying acknowledging the rising water and abundance of fish.⁽³⁾

The 72 Seasons

The 72-season calendar was established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. Each season lasts for about 5 days and offers "a poetic journey through the Japanese year in which the land awakens and blooms with life and activity before returning to slumber."⁽⁴⁾

The micro-season for this week is "Silkworms Start Feasting on Mulberry Leaves" (May 21 - May 25).

The Silkworm

The silkworm is the larva of the domestic silkmoth (Bombyx mori). Once hatched the silkworm will continuously eat until it has molted four times, after which it enters the pupa, or cocoon, stage. The silkworm's favorite food is the white mulberry, and it takes about 45 days of feeding for the silkworm to transition to the cocoon.^(6,7)

The silkworm makes its cocoon out of one continuous white or yellow strand of silk. This silk strand can be up to 1,000 yards long.⁽⁷⁾For humans to use this silk, they will either steam or use hot air to kill the pupa. By steaming out the pupa, the insect dies while the silk remains intact and can be harvested.^(6,7)

Astronomical Season

May 26, the last day of week 21. May 26 is 68 days past the spring equinox and 25 days until the summer solstice (June 20, 2024).

May's Full Moon

May's full Moon arrived on May 23. This full moon is sometimes referred to as the Flower Moon.

Catherine Boeckmann at The Farmer's Almanac explains that Flower Moon comes from the abundant flowers growing across North America. The term Flower Moon originates with the Algonquin people.

Other names for April's full moon include:

Budding Moon from the Cree
Frog Moon from the Cree
Planting Moon for the Dakota and Lakota
Moon of the Shedding Ponies from the Oglala

For more information about the Flower Moon, read Boekmann's full article.

Haiku and Kigo

The kigo, or season word, is one of the key parts of the haiku. The Yuki Teikei Haiku Society provides us with the following explanation for why we use kigo in haiku.

"A kigo is a poetic device used in haiku to denote a season; it's a powerful word or phrase that can conjure up many allusions, historical references, spiritual meanings, and/or cultural traditions. Its use in haiku, a poem of few words, is especially effective because of this power to expand its meaning beyond the literal and to create a larger aura of seasonal mood, historical/ literary context, and/or cultural implications."⁽⁹⁾

Visit The Haiku Foundation's "New To Haiku: What is a Kigo?" for more information

This Week's Kigo

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto "silkworm cocoon", "fly", "mosquito" and "ant" are relevant insect-related kigo.

In Jane Reichhold's A Dictionary of Haiku, "caterpillar", "larva", and "moth" are all relevant kigo.

Looking at the World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greves, "silkworm" (kaiko) is a late spring kigo. "Cocoon" is an early summer kigo, and "Silkworm Becoming a Moth" is a mid-summer kigo.

With all this in mind, let's read some haiku.

Basho

early summer rain 
a silkworm sickens 
on a mulberry farm 
(translated by Jane Reichhold)

crawl out! 
beneath the silkworm shed 
the croak of a toad 
(translated by Michael Haldane)

In this hermitage, 
all the mosquitoes are small - 
what a lovely gift! 
(translated by Sam Hamill)

Issa

the whole house pays them court... silkworms (translated by David G. Lanoue)

one cocoon in the stone Buddha's lap (translated by David G. Lanoue)

hey toad the caterpillar will grow and fly away! (translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

Suspended lightening —  Hachijuu Island's hanging  yellow silk (translated by Allan Persinger)

Reichhold

my eye the spot on the larva's back where wings emerge

bubbles larva in pond scum fly away

Kerouac

Two ants hurry    to catch up With lonely Joe

Haiku Invitation

This week's haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu about a seasonal insect.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your page and link back. I can't wait to read what you write!

Let's Spread the Joy of Haiku!

Buy a haiku book for the Woodbury Community Library (Woodbury, VT) and help them spread the joy of haiku! Follow this link to see the wish list and how you can help.

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