Poet Profile

Deb Koen

Deb Koen came of age climbing the trees, roaming the fields, and swimming the streams of rural New York State. She expresses her love of writing and of nature through haiku and haibun. She’s widely published in haiku journals, and her haiku collection is On the Planet (Free Food Press, Ed. Michael Ketchek). Deb is inspired by everyday experiences from life in Rochester and the Finger Lakes region of NY, along with road trips and travel to faraway places.

Awards and Other Honors:

HSA Haibun Award 2nd Place 2014 for A Place of One's Own, Honorable Mention in Only One Kagoshima Tree haiku contest, 2015; Prize Winner in Setouchi Matsuyama Photo Haiku Contest, 2015; Chicago Botanic Garden – Words in Bloom haiku selection, 2020; Modern Haiku featured haiku; Bottle Rockets featured haiku; a featured poet included in Ion Codrescu’s The Wanderer Brush, 2022; Guest Author – Mann's Library Daily Haiku, 2022; Guest Editor – Haiku Foundation: Haiku of the Day April 2024; Conference Presenter – 2025 Haiku Canada Conference Coming of Age Through Haiku and Haibun.

Books Published:

Haiku & haibun books/publications: On the Planet (Free Food Press, 2018); After Landing Haiku (co-authored with Tom Painting, buddha baby press, 2008 ); Dandelion Clocks Rochester Area Haiku Group Anthology 2015; Coming of Age With The Beatles (Haiku Canada publication 2025);
Professional books/publications: Career Choice, Change and Challenge (JIST Publishing, 2000); Weekly Career Columnist for The Wall Street Journal's WSJ.com, Gannett's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Nature's NatureJobs.com (1999 – 2011).

napping
in the lap of the lake
filtered sunlight

morning sun
through a dragonfly's wing
the day still ahead

peach shortcake
at twilight we agree
on more

morning kayak
the graceful dip
of swallows

Perseids
that show stopper
the moon

this old house
the happy creak
of a cork

Credits:

“napping” – The Heron's Nest Vol. XXVII, No. 1: March 2025; “morning sun” – Modern Haiku vol. 39:1, Winter-Spring 2008; “peach shortcake” – Frogpond vol. 38:2, Spring-Summer 2015; “morning kayak” – Acorn issue #45, Fall 2020; “Perseids” – Akitsu Quarterly Fall/Winter 2023; “this old house” – Modern Haiku vol. 51.2 Summer 2020.