Essays, Art and Plays by Dan

The poem:

ripples of water
in the brimming birdbath—
spring breeze
—Anne Curran
 Hamilton, New Zealand
 THF Blog: January 21, 2026 — "HAIKU DIALOGUE

My review:

An Acrostic (BIRDBATH) Commentary

Beneath the surface, this haiku is an encounter between fullness and disturbance: the birdbath is “brimming,” complete, still, and then the breeze scribbles itself upon it.

In the first line, “ripples of water” gives us motion before we know its cause. The poem takes us into a world governed by traces.

Rather than showcase Spring through beautiful blossoms or a birdsong choir, the haiku chooses a small and modest reservoir of water.

Delicately, the dash after “birdbath” becomes the poem’s door. It holds silence long enough for the phrase, “spring breeze,” to enter as both explanation and revelation.

Brimming means almost overflowing; one more breath, one more ripple, and the water will spill. This is the arrival of a moment poised on the edge of vanishing.

Atmospherically, the poem is all lightness; the breeze acts without force, altering the world by touch rather than command.

The juxtaposition is haiku spare: water held in a human-made vessel, wind moving through an unchained season. Between them, the poem finds a quiet collaboration of artifice and nature.

Here, Spring is not announced; it is inferred. The haiku hopes the reader will feel Spring’s renewal in the barely visible rippling of a birdbath.

Link to the complete article: