Zaneta V. Johns, also known as Zan Johns, is the 2026 Literary Icon (Creative Beacons International
Group) and a 2025 Gawad Pumana Literary Leadership Award recipient, named one of Titanium Magazine's 'Top 50 Global Inspirational Women to Look Out for in 2025." Her third collection, Encore, was a 2024 American Writing Awards Finalist submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration. A Lifetime Legacy Member and inaugural poet laureate of the Women Speakers Association, she is an editor for Fine Lines Literary Journal and coeditor of five poetry anthologies. She lives in Colorado.

From international award-winning poet Zaneta V. Johns comes a luminous collection that offers a contemporary vitality to the ancient art of haiku. Acorn invites readers to slow down, reflect, and rediscover the calm in everyday life. In this unique volume, fleeting moments become doorways to deeper understanding: birdsongs and sunlight filtering through foliage, the hush of deep sorrow, the delight of vibrant flowers and resilience of butterflies. Through three hundred finely crafted haiku, Acorn explores the persistent connections between nature, love, spirituality, and the endless search for peace.

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These concise yet mighty poems honor the poet's personal and collective experiences. Acorns represent strength and the powerful potential of something miniscule becoming great, like a century-old oak tree. Themes of grief and healing unfold alongside reflections on compassion, social justice, and our responsibility to one another and the natural world. Each expression delivers a moment of stillness, inviting contemplation and renewal in an increasingly restless world.

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Written with clarity and grace, Acorn will resonate with readers who seek deeper meaning, solace and connection. In honoring simplicity, it reminds us that wisdom and wonder often dwell in the smallest and sometimes most painful moments. The vulnerability shared in this collection is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss.

Acorn is a compelling companion to revere for its quiet revelations and enduring light.

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Includes Book Club Conversation Starters