The poetry collection Oneness R. opens with an offer to embrace brief encounters, as in the poem “Dress,” and ends in a cosmic communion between the human and the divine in the “Atman’s Song” cycle. Each poem reveals a strong lyrical voice, knitting together human vulnerability, longing, ecstasy, and transcendence. The language is simple yet evocative, marked by intense emotional tone. Imagery is tactile, roses bloom in the body, moonlight drips on skin, whispers echo in dreams. There’s an immediacy in poems like “You Are Mangoes” and “Waves,” contrasted with philosophical musing in “Prayer of Amaterasu” and “To Paint a Starry Night.” The reader moves through a landscape both intimate and metaphysical, where poetry becomes the vessel of lived experience and spiritual reflection.
The poems collectively explore a central motif of oneness, between lovers, between self and other, between human and divine, between body and cosmos. This is declared explicitly in “Oneness,” reiterated in “Twin Souls,” and expanded cosmically throughout the “Atman’s Song” cycle. Recurring symbols, moon, stars, roses, water, and the body, serve as conduits for deeper truths. The collection pulses with spiritual intimacy and cosmic unity, with individual poems linking together like constellations. “Tapestry of the Universe” and “Black of Creation” explore grand questions through the interweaving of elemental imagery and personal experience. Even in the sensual poems, like “Dazzling Love” or “Not Enough Love,” there is a feeling that love transcends the individual and stretches into universal mystery.
In its approach and sensibility, Oneness R. bridges spiritual poetry, erotic verse, eco-poetry, and cosmic-philosophical musing, drawing from Japanese, Indian, and European traditions. The poet channels the brevity and precision of haiku, the ecstatic clarity of Rumi, and the grand ambition of Whitman or Blake. The trilingual structure (English, Japanese, and Russian) situates the work in a global literary consciousness. The poems evoke Buddhist philosophies, esoteric mythologies, and painterly visions, especially in pieces like “Ukiyo-e Artist” or “Mona Lisa Raise Up!” The collection lives between cultures and timelines, resisting containment by any one tradition. This multilingualism becomes a metaphor for oneness itself, the dissolving of boundaries between languages, between people, between seen and unseen worlds.
Craftsmanship across the collection varies, but it is rich in deliberate imagery, musical cadence, and thoughtful lineation. Repetition is used to powerful effect, particularly in “You Are Mangoes” and “A Door to the Future,” where refrains become mantras. The poet favours free verse, allowing emotional and philosophical inquiries to flow with organic rhythm. Poems such as “Paper Door” reflect a metafictional awareness, the poet meditating on the act of writing itself. Others, like “In a Field of Stars” or “Moon Fortune,” offer cinematic vignettes of love and longing, drenched in natural detail. Even the longer metaphysical works hold interest through symbolic intensity, if not always through structural precision. Despite occasional abstraction, the voice remains sincere and rooted in a search for truth.
The emotional arc of Oneness R. is strong and coherent. From the quiet awe of “September Garden” to the cosmic longing of “Light of the Universe,” the poems collectively invite reflection, feeling, and transformation. There is a dialogic quality in many of the poems, a voice reaching toward a beloved, a memory, a god, or the void. The collection doesn’t dictate meaning; it opens space for it. It speaks gently to our era’s hunger for connection, clarity, and inner peace. Particularly compelling is the way joy and sorrow coexist, as in “Fallen Leaves” or “Voice of the Sea,” where personal loss echoes through elemental imagery. These pieces resonate deeply and universally, underscoring poetry’s power to express the inexpressible.
Read aloud, many of the poems would be even more powerful. The chant-like repetitions, sonic play, and visual rhythm of the lineation give the collection auditory texture. Pieces such as “Tokimeki na Koi no Monogatari” and “Waves” shimmer with performative energy. The poet often layers metaphysical abstractions with concrete sensory language, lush textures of flesh, flame, water, and light—to ground cosmic thought in felt experience. While a few poems might benefit from more concise phrasing or tightened syntax, their authenticity and musicality remain compelling throughout. In many ways, this is a collection meant to be heard as much as read, a chant of the soul through various forms of breath.
The creative process behind the poems feels transparent, personal, and inspired. The author clearly draws from deep wellsprings, mythological (Amaterasu, Atman), artistic (Van Gogh, the Mona Lisa), and spiritual (Buddhist and Christian archetypes). In poems like “Inspiration,” “Tapestry of the Universe,” and “Atman’s Song III,” we witness the poet as a seer: reaching through dimensions, channelling sacred energies, and rendering visions with urgency. The collection suggests that art is not only self-expression, but a path to divine communion. The poet reveals themselves not as a master of language, but as a vessel, reflecting the Eastern idea of the artist as an empty reed through which the universe sings.
For readers seeking to deepen their understanding of poetry, Oneness R. offers an expansive gateway. It engages multiple poetic devices, apostrophe, personification, metaphor, alliteration, without calling attention to them. Formal structures are loose but not careless. The poet understands the sonic and visual possibilities of language and trusts intuition to lead. Meanwhile, thematic layering creates a multidimensional reading experience. Online or otherwise, readers exploring this work will likely be prompted to research its references, art movements, mythologies, sacred texts, thereby deepening their own literary and philosophical knowledge. In this way, the book acts as both a poetic offering and an educational invitation.
After chasing the horizon for what seemed a lifetime, the historical and spiritual context in which these poems emerge cannot be overlooked. Whether explicitly referencing Atlantis, Mu, and planetary alignments in “Atman’s Song,” or subtly invoking climate grief in “The Black of Creation,” the work speaks to a time of planetary crisis and spiritual searching. It reads like a cosmic scripture for a fractured age, a vision of what might be possible if love, compassion, and creativity are allowed to guide us. While it dreams toward utopias, “Here Is a Country Without War”, it remains grounded in deeply human emotion and experience. In the end, Oneness R. is not just a poetry collection. It is a philosophical journey, a prayerbook, a love letter, and a cosmology of spirit.
Twin Souls
You came! In the dream …
And laughing quietly
You come by me
Energy like the sun
Is it a sign of gentle love?
Or is it a sign of love and dreams?
You are coming
Into my heart
Slowly, strongly and calmly.
Let’s tie my joy
And your kindness
to one light
Piercing the galaxy,
Where Everything is born
Real me, I am Love
Feeling it, where all life is born
Your love and my love,
Which is a wonderful encounter
that we have been waiting for a long time.
Here Is a Country Without War
Here is a country without war
There are no rivals anymore
Nor is there a domineering ruler
Everything is peaceful
The people all communicate with telepathy
There are no poverty and crime, no disease
People live to be hundreds of years old
Like a happy baby held by its mama
A country that is always laughing
With wine in hand
A country lying down, hugging and kissing
Without a monetary system, there is no need to work for a living
A country where everyone does the work that they want to do
We should abolish nuclear weapons already
Dictators are not necessary
(What remains, in conclusion, is the sin of crime)
A country without a ruler
Not controlled by anyone
Knowing neither democracy nor socialism
Here is a peaceful country without war
Inspiration
While looking at the sunflower painting
I’m remembering you
The season is already spring.
Between you, who have already left
There is no word to exchange
From behind the quietly closed eyes
A drop of water falls
Making me breathe my words.
Art transferred from the 4th dimension of the universe to the 3rd dimension
All is strange and beautiful
The emotion of consciousness is light and shadow
At the top of the misty mountain summit where the Gods live
I am standing alone.
Like relief of the heart
The wind is blowing
Transition from the fourth dimension of the universe to the third dimension
Even now you
quietly, in my heart
come up.
You come.
Waves
Foam, foam, foam
Foams float and fade
Then a wave rushes in
Ripple, ripple, ripple
Ripples sweep and slide
Then a wave crashes in
One, two or three
Whales swim and spray
Then a herd of whales move along
Life, life, life
Lives come and go
Like the ocean waves, on and on.
Tokimeki na Koi no Monogatari
The crush of love comes suddenly, somehow or other.
Instead of rushing around with melancholy,
it is hanging around somewhere.
Now
a crush on love comes here
very lively and thrilled
Because it’s full of confidence
it resembles the shadow of life’s shine rather than
The crush of love growing up
it seems to be walking
In truth, it comes walking alone.
No matter where I look
there are no words or colors,
burning fireflies —
They can be expressed by the notation Hugh.
There’s no doubt that I love you.
I whisper that in your ear,
When it resonates also to me
You will be throbbing
Our everlasting exciting feeling
I hope we share together.
Born in 1972 in Ehime, Japan, Maki Starfield is a multifaceted poet, painter, and cultural ambassador whose creative journey spans continents and disciplines. She holds a Master of Arts from Sophia University in Tokyo and further pursued her global education in Canada, earning a postgraduate diploma in International Business Management with Honors from Niagara College, as well as a TESOL certification from St. George International College.
Maki began composing haiku in 2008, quickly garnering recognition with a prize at the 12th Annual Mainichi Haiku Contest. In 2012, she published her debut poetry collection, Kiss the Dragon, marking the beginning of a prolific literary path. Alongside her poetic voice, she began expressing herself visually through painting, participating in Tokyo’s Design Festa Vol. 40 and several contemporary art exhibitions. Her work has been honored by the Contemporary Art Association and the prestigious Taiyo Bijutsu Exhibition, where she received multiple awards including the Dojinsho Prize in 2018.
Her artistic practice is deeply collaborative and internationally minded. She has co-authored numerous Japanese-English bilingual poetry collections, including Duet of Dots, Duet of Lines, Trio of Crystals, and Duet of Fireflies, partnering with poets from countries such as Italy, Greece, Belgium, India, China, Ghana, Turkey, and the United States. Her poetry has appeared in respected literary journals across the globe—from Italy’s Immagine & Poesia and Greece’s Poeticanet to Korea’s Expatriate Literature, and has been translated into more than ten languages.
A regular member of several Japanese haiku associations, including Sokyu, Sawa, and Evergreen, she is also a committed member of the Japan Universal Poets Association. Her international accolades include an Honorable Mention at the 2018 Guido Gozzano Prize (Italy).
Maki has performed and read poetry at notable cultural events, including the Kyoto Poetry Readings (2016, 2018) and the JUNPA 5th Anniversary International Poetry Festival (2017), affirming her voice as one that resonates across borders.
Website: https://makistarfield.wordpress.com/
Immagine & Poesia: https://immaginepoesia.jimdo.com/
