Week 09: “Grass Sprouts, Trees Bud”

February 26 to March 03 is the ninth week of 2024.  During this week, we complete the Solar Term of Rain Water (Feb 19 – Mar 04), and have the micro-seasons of “Mist Starts to Linger” (Feb 24 – Feb 28) and “Grass Sprouts, Trees Bud” (Mar 01 – Mar 05).

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

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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 the city Xi’an, which was the capital of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). ⁽¹⁾

Rain Water

Rain Water is the second Solar Term of the year and the second Solar Term of Spring. Yǔ Shuǐ (雨水) is the Chinese name for this season. Yǔ Shuǐ (雨水) is translated to mean the weather is becoming warmer and there will be rain, or snowfall is decreasing and now it will rain. 

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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-seasons for this week are the micro-seasons of “Mist Starts to Linger” (Feb 24 – Feb 28) and “Grass Sprouts, Trees Bud” (Mar 01 – Mar 05).

About Tree Buds

A “bud” is an undeveloped stem or branch that contains the beginnings of leaves, flowers, or both leaves and flowers.  Buds typically form at the end of a stem or at the axil of a leaf.  In colder climates, buds may be covered in specialized leaf parts called scales. The scales protect the delicate parts of the buds from harsh winter conditions. ^(5,6)  

Types of Buds

Buds are classified by the location, function, and morphology.

Location:

• Terminal –  This bud is located at the tip of a stem or branch.
• Apical –  This bud is located at the tip of a stem or a branch but is at the top of the plant.
• Axillary –  This type of bud is located in the axil of a leaf. The leaf axil is located between the upper part of the stem and a leaf’s supporting stem. 
• Adventitious – An adventitious bud forms in places not identified in the other locations.  For example, adventitious buds may form on trunks or roots.  

Function:

• Vegetative – A vegetative bud only contains the vegetative pieces of the plant.  A leaf bud is a vegetative bud. 
• Reproductive – A reproductive bud contains flower parts. This bud may also be called a flower bud. 
• Mixed  – A mixed bud contains both vegetative and reproductive parts.  

Morphology:

• Scaly or Covered – Scaly or covered buds have specialized leaf parts that cover and protect the undeveloped parts. 
• Naked – Naked buds do not have scales.;
• Hairy – Hairy buds may be scaly or naked, and they have small hairs that provide extra protection. 

Below is an illustration by Mariana Ruiz Villarreal that illustrates these classifications.  Villarreal also adds a fourth classification known as “Status”.

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Astronomical Season

March 03, the last day of week nine of 2024, is 70 days past the winter solstice and only 16 days away from the spring equinox (March 19, 2024).  

Moon Phases

On March 03, the moon reaches its Last Quarter phase. The Last Quarter is about three weeks after the New Moon and about one week after the Full Moon.  At this time, the Moon is three-quarters of its way around the Earth and has about 50% illumination.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, the Moon’s left side is illuminated and the right is dark. If you live in the southern hemisphere, the right side is illuminated and the left is dark.  The Moon will continue to lose illumination until it reaches the New Moon phase on March 10.

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Langston Hughes: “An Earth Song”

Langston Hughes (1901-1967) was a prolific writer who “wrote 16 collections of poetry, 12 novels and short story collections, 11 major plays, eight books for children, seven works of non-fiction, and numerous essays.”⁽⁸⁾  Hughes was known for his work that depicted black life in America between the 1920s and 1960s. The following poem, “An Earth Song” was first published in The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925).

“An Earth Song” by Langston Hughes

It's an earth song,—
And I've been waiting long for an earth song. 
It's a spring song,—
And I've been waiting long for a spring song. 
    Strong as the shoots of a new plant 
    Strong as the bursting of new buds
    Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's womb. 
It's an earth song, 
A body song, 
A spring song, 
I have been waiting long for this spring song.

This poem has since been turned into a children’s book illustrated by Tequitia Andrews. 

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The Kigo

In The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, “Tree buds”, “Young Grasses”, and “Sprouting Grasses” are all potential kigo for this week.  

In Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku, “Budding Birches” and “New Grasses” are other potential kigo.

 Now with all this in mind, let’s read some haiku about the emerging plants

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Basho

flower buds 
sadly spring winds cannot open 
a poem bag 
(translated by Jane Reichhold) 

In windblown spring rain, 
budding, like a straw raincoat, 
a river willow 
(translated by Sam Hamill)

emaciated 
yet somehow the chrysanthemums 
begin to bud 
(translated by Makoto Ueda)

Issa

twisting, turning
the cat scratches his face...
budding tree
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

every tree
with its calling card...
spring buds
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

in the thicket no one
knows about
trees budding bright
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

Buds
you bloom without knowledge —
butterbur
(translated by Allan Persinger)

Shiki – (A tanka)

two feet tall,
the crimson-budded roses,
their young thorns
tender in
the soft spring rain
(translated by Janine Beichman)

Reichhold

white and thin
the light of spring
where buds dare

March snow
footprints turning back
into grass

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Haiku invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu referencing emerging plant life.

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

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Thank You!

About the Haiku

Basho’s haiku were retrieved from “Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations” Editor: Gábor Terebess.  Issa’s haiku were retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s Haiku Guy. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation by Allan Persinger. Shiki’s tanka was retrieved from Janine Beichman’s “Masaoka Shiki: His Life and Works,” at the Haiku Foundation Digital Library. Jane Reichhold’s haiku were retrieved from Dictionary of Haiku.

1. “The 24 Solar Terms”; China Educational Tours
2. 24 Solar Terms: 6  things you must know about Rain Water. ChinaDaily.com
3. 72 Seasons App
4. “Japan’s 72 Microseasons”; Nippon.com
5. “Bud”; Dictionary.com 
6. “Bud”; Wikipedia
7. “Langston Hughes”; Poets.org
8. “An Earth Song”; Langston Hughes. Poets.org