For you, a poem and a photo from my travel, which will continue for a few more days. Thank you for reading.
Eleusinian – Poem by Gabriela Marie Milton
Beneath the silence of the heated rocks, Demeter harvests her lost tears, Tonight, you will be hers, my dear, Your body arting stones and souls
The ears of the corn will grow in silence, Secrets of red sweetened lips Falling to your knees Youโll drink from my cupped palms The supplication prayers Of those youโve never met
Unknowing who I am, The goddessโs veil will fallโ Revealing all that once was hidden, Blooms of blushed and bluish mornings That once were sacred and now sleep Inside the drunken silence of museums
I deeply regret that I can’t explore as many blogs as I’d love to right now, for I’m on an exciting journey! My heart swells with hope that everyone enjoys a spectacular and unforgettable August full of adventure and joy!
I urge you to pause for a moment and soak in the exhilarating news that Literary Revelations Publishing House is on the verge of unveiling a breathtaking fine-art photography and poetry album by the incredibly talented Japanese artist Naoki Kimura. This exquisite album, titled LULLASCAPES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW, is destined to become a treasured collector’s gem. Currently, the artist’s solo exhibition is captivating audiences at the Hilton Tokyo Hotel, showcasing many of the stunning works that will grace our album. Stay tuned, for this is just the beginning of the artistic journey that awaits!
Naoki Kimura sent me a photo from ็ฅๅ็ฅญ (Kannamesai) at Ise Grand Shrine, a harvest festival held at the shrine. The festival is a significant event where the first fruits of the year’s harvest are offered to the deities. It’s one of the most important annual festivals in Japan, with roots tracing back to ancient times. The festival is a way to express gratitude to the gods for the bountiful harvest and to pray for continued prosperity.
I added my humble voice and wrote a poem titled Sacredness for the exceptional photo taken by Naoki Kimura.
Sacredness – poem by Gabriela Marie Milton – photo Naoki Kimura
The fire burns sacred, unseen, Silent as unfinished steps between, A path unknown, a whispered quest, I search for hearts I donโt possess.
Who am I in this endless night, A shadow cast without a light? No pulse to claim, no beat to own, Just echoes where a soul is born.
A glimpse of humbleness A quiet bow, A softened breath Of the unknown
The fragrance of new rice, pure and sweet, I kneel where earth and heavens meet, My soul is rising, gentle, deepโ A heart reborn in what I reap.
Between the silence and the song, Unspoken morning, you belongโ A soul awakened by a light, Kannamesaiโs peace on a fall night.
Good morning/good evening, my cherished followers:
Today: A POEM BY GABRIELA MARIE MILTON AND A PHOTO BY NAOKI KIMURA.
I hope you enjoy:
PHOTO
Naoki Kimura
POEM/SHORT PROSE
She perched at the corner of the old archway, her floral dress blooming against the steel, her eyes the green of rain-soaked moss.
โHey, lady. Want me to read your future?โ โNo, thank you.โ โEver been sick?โ โNo.โ โEver had surgery?โ โNo.โ โBroken bones?โ โNo.โ โTheyโve tied your health.โ โWhat?โ โNow, they canโt touch you.โ โWho are they?โ
She laughedโa strange, yellow laughter, sweet and sour.
โLet me tell you your future.โ โNo, thanks.โ
I quickened my pace, heart thumping.
When I reached the center of the arch, I glanced back. She was goneโvanished like a forgotten dream.
My future flickered before my eyes: a vision in black and white, sharp as shadows, silent as stone.
The light is tender, the shadow falls with graceโ delicate, it stirs the ache of beauty. I linger, awaiting the hush of the lull. ใ
NAOKI KIMURA
My dear followers,
I wish you a beautiful weekend filled with love and joy.
LITERARY REVELATIONS’ TEAM is absolutely ecstatic to unveil the stunning cover for our forthcoming album LULLASCAPES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW, crafted by the incredibly talented Japanese artist NAOKI KIMURA. Today, we are filled with excitement to share more about this remarkable album, so letโs dive into the enchanting journey ahead!
THE ALBUM
Trimmed at 8.27 x 11.69 inches, the album is a piece of art for those who love beauty and want to explore Japanese traditional concepts through photography and poetry, presented through the lens and voice of one of the most remarkable Zen Japanese artists.
It’s a collector’s piece.
For those eager to journey deeper into the heart of Japanese culture, there is no more resonant path than one illuminated by the fine art photography and poetry of a preeminent Zen photographer. The album is more than a collection of images or mere wordsโit is an invitation to see with new eyes, to listen with a still mind, and to experience the world as a fleeting, exquisite moment.
RELEASE DATE
We are proud to let you know that we plan to release LULASCAPES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW at the end of August, when Naoki Kimura’s new exhibition will open at the HILTON TOKYO HOTEL. The exhibition will run until October. In honor of the launch, the artist decided to call his exhibition LULASCAPES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW. Our album will be there!
We are delighted to present to you the cover of the album.
NAOKI KIMURA -BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Naoki Kimura, a fine art photographer and poet, was born in the historic weaving district of Nishijin in Kyoto. In this enclave, centuries-old threads of tradition and artistry are intricately intertwined. Kimuraโs work is shaped by the subtle grandeur of Japanโs ancient heart. This cradle of craftsmanship, with its iridescent silks and quiet courtyards, instilled in him an early reverence for the grace found in both everyday moments and the painstaking work of artisans.
In 1987, driven by a yearning for broader horizons, Kimura embarked on a pilgrimage to the United States. By 1990, the creative current of New York had claimed him. New York became both an anchor and a launching point, enabling him to traverse Europeโs storied landscapes. Naoki Kimuraโs first album emerged as a radiant homage to the Renaissance that once swept across the heart of Europe. Every image, meticulously crafted and deeply evocative, channels the intellectual fervor, aesthetic grandeur, and passionate spirit that defined that transformative era.
Yet, despite the lure of the world, there remained an inexorable pull toward home. In 2017, with the wisdom of years and an ever-deepening artistic vision, he turned his gaze back to Japan, establishing Tokyo as his creative nexus. Here, amid the contrasting rhythms of ancient temples and neon-lit avenues, he embarked on a new chapterโa return not only to his country of birth but to purpose.
At the core of his photographic meditation lies an exploration of mono no awareโthe tender awareness of impermanence and the gentle sorrow that accompanies it. Through his unique sensibility, he distills this concept into what he calls โNagiโ: a profound, resonant calm. It is a stillness that is not emptiness but fullnessโan echo of all that once was and might yet be. Each photograph, whether of a fleeting shadow on stone or the hush before a storm, seeks to capture the tremor that arises when moment and place convergeโa fleeting qualia, the ineffable felt quality of existence itself.
His art is, in essence, the patient recording of these thresholds: the pause where time lingers, suspended in the interplay of light and shadow. Through careful observation, Noaki Kimura makes the invisible manifest; his images invite viewers to inhabit silence, to contemplate the spaces between breath, thought, and sensation.
This singular vision has garnered him a devoted circle of collectors, not only in his native Japan but across the Americas and Europe. To encounter his work is to be reminded of the fragility of beauty, the sweetness of melancholy, and the immense depth that resides within the most unassuming of moments. His photographs are not records of the world, but portals to its soulโeach frame a meditation, each composition an invitation to dwell, if only for an instant, in the presence of stillness.
Naoki Kimuraโs newest album, Lullascapes in Light and Shadow (Literary Revelations, 2025), is a testimony to his exceptional art and a symphony of refinement and restraint. His Japanese art embraces both quiet contemplation and offers the world a vision where the fleeting and the eternal converge.
SOON WE WILL RELEASE A LIST OF NAOKI KIMURA’S EXHIBITIONS.
In this attic, there is no light anymore. Nothing penetrates the small windows from which we used to watch the moonโs rays playing on the chestnut leaves during our first autumn. In darkness, I sit down and wrap a piece of a burned candle around loves which are born out of pity. How pathetic. I hear a whisper: perhaps my old toys locked inside the old Spanish chest. They still talk among themselves, donโt they? You were right. Iโve never been what I appeared to be: an ordinary girl walking in the streets and drinking mocktails in bars.
I used to laugh. Yet you did not drown in my laughter. You vanished inside my melancholy; inside the dead world to which Iโve always aspired. Youโve remained there forbidding my laughter for fear of not forgetting me. Oh, that loyalty of yours amid all temptations.
The night is blessed with darkness, which makes way for light in the morning.
In August, Literary Revelations is set to unveil a stunning album of fine-art photography by the acclaimed Japanese artist Naoki Kimura. Measuring a refined 8.3 inches wide by 11.7 inches tall, this collection promises to be a visual feast, printed on the finest paper that Amazon offers.
What sets Kimuraโs work apart is his unparalleled mastery of monochrome photography, which exquisitely captures the mesmerizing dance of light and shadowsโtransforming each image into a profound experience. The artistโs extraordinary photographic technique has garnered him countless awards and provided him with the opportunity to showcase his fervent dedication to beauty in art at numerous prestigious international exhibitions.
The collection also includes short prose, haiku, and tanka, written by Naoki Kimura.
This album is a collectorโs piece. I hope you will enjoy it.
Anything can be said about that city, but one can never say that it lacks a distinct identity.
During the humid autumn evenings, the city looks like a wounded being, nursing her own lacerations. On the sidewalks, the smell of dust overpowers the stench of cigarettes and alcohol coming from her tiny, obscure pubs.
Clandestine rising to power, luxury cars zipping by, casinos filled with shady characters, rats zig-zagging in the basements of old buildings. Plenty of frustrations run through the cityโs blood like thousands of white blood cells through the veins of an infected patient.
A sea of beggars at every street corner: amputated hands, deep lesions, wrinkled faces painted in the colors of dirt. Pain exposed in plain view like art objects in museums: the only difference being that pain is free; the entry in most museums is not.
In that city, our story began: a story in which we created and destroyed loves, trusted and betrayed friendships, invented beauty only to eradicate it at the first sign of dawn.
We tried to satisfy our egos. We ended up fulfilling the cityโs need to devour us.
โWith lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela M. evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.โ Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller โDrowning Ruth.”
Art: Bullfightย (Spanish:ย Suerte de Varas) is an 1824 oil painting byย Francisco Goyaย
MATADOR
in Salamancaโs golden square, Where ancient stones remember pain, The crimson sun, the dust- my reign
Red is my dress , the crowd ignitesโ A sea of faces, hope and dread.
The bull, a shadow forged in night.
And you, my matador, in shining thread, The capeโa flick, a whispered prayerโ Red as the roses on the grave. The dance of deathโฆ
Now I scribble words in lonely Sundays, Echoes of bull fights in Salamanca โฆ
REMINDER:
Literary Revelations anthologies, including Hidden in Childhood and Petals of Haiku: An Anthology, alongside Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, are soaring back to the pinnacle of success in the US. These remarkable works have reclaimed their status as #1 Amazon Bestsellers, with one even capturing the incredible #2 position on the charts!
As a heartfelt token of our deepest gratitude for your unwavering loyalty, and recognizing that some of our beloved authors may not have had the means to purchase our cherished books, we are thrilled to offer all three of these literary treasures completely free for a limited time!
Please take a moment to leave a review, if you can. After all, if you donโt, how will our message reach more people? We canโt exactly send carrier pigeons anymore!
LINKS (E-book versions free)
If the links do not work for you please search for the books on Amazon.
โWith lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela M. evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.โ Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller โDrowning Ruth.”
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings in Independent Book Review
“Passions is a collection for the contemplative reader, those who appreciate symbolic language, mythic references, and emotional depth. Gabriela Marie Milton has crafted a poetic world where spiritual longing meets sensual reality, and where even the quietest images pulse with significance. This book is a rewarding experience for lovers of lyrical, layered, and emotionally intelligent poetry.”
โWith lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela M. evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.โ Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller โDrowning Ruth.”
Wishing all my amazing followers a truly enchanting weekend filled with magic.
Photo: Naoki Kimura
A poem by Gabriela Marie Milton
Memories, static, a half-formed word. The girlsโ laughter echoing through the hollow chest of a moment in time.
Gone now, my eyes blurred like rain on glass, perhaps I dreamt themโ
Young bodies flickering in the static, their fancy emptied like pockets after a carnival. What did they buy from the pharmacy?
It smells like morphineโ sweet, chemical, a day in life dissolving at the edges.
I look through your eyes at the girlsโ nonexistent presence, shadows in the room, the laughterโ folded into silence.
I think of you. Years inscribed on windows. What did the girls buy from the pharmacy?
Sneak a peek at Naoki Kimura’s upcoming Photo Album from Literary Revelations.
Naoki Kimura, a celebrated artist known for his fine art photography, is set to release a breathtaking new album under the aegis of Literary Revelations. Tentatively scheduled for publication at the end of July, this highly anticipated album promises to be an unparalleled artistic experience and an exquisite addition to any coffee table.
Capturing the Essence of Japanese Sensibility
The album stands as a testament to the profound beauty of Japanese culture through the medium of monochrome photography. It artfully encapsulates cherished aesthetic principles such as โMono no Aware,โ the bittersweet awareness of impermanence; โWabi,โ the understated elegance of simplicity; and โSabi,โ the poetic grace of age and weathering. Each photograph invites viewers into a meditative space, allowing them to perceive the beauty hidden within the fleeting moments of life.
A Fusion of Art and Literature
Beyond its striking visuals, the album harmonizes the photographic artistry with the written word. It contains a rich tapestry of haiku, tanka, free-form poetry, and short prose, each piece carefully curated to complement the visual narrative. This literary inclusion elevates the album into a multidimensional experience, offering not just imagery but profound reflections that resonate deeply with the soul.
An Artistic Treasure for Every Home
Naoki Kimuraโs album is more than a collection of photographsโit’s a piece of art that speaks to the heart. Its pages promise moments of introspection, beauty, and connection, making it the perfect centerpiece for contemplation and conversation. The fusion of visual and literary artistry ensures that this work will leave an indelible mark on all who encounter it.
Prepare to immerse yourself in an extraordinary experience when Naoki Kimuraโs fine art photography arrives this summer. This album promises to be not only a feast for the senses but also a celebration of the timeless essence of Japanese sensibility. Truly, a masterpiece destined to touch hearts and enrich lives.
โWith lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela M. evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.โ Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller โDrowning Ruth.”
my love, I speak to you through centuries of pain trees spin barren branches in the air when loneliness rains on blue hills I crush my heart so yours can still beat
listen ocean waves embrace the moonโs pale chest instead of tears I shed naked pearls to wash the effigy of your acoustic agony and mend the painful scratches from your skin
with my imaginary fingers in blue and black the time I bend and no matter who I am a human or a spirit I swear to you Iโll love you till the end
Included in my book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings
“Passions is a collection for the contemplative reader, those who appreciate symbolic language, mythic references, and emotional depth. Gabriela Marie Milton has crafted a poetic world where spiritual longing meets sensual reality, and where even the quietest images pulse with significance. This book is a rewarding experience for lovers of lyrical, layered, and emotionally intelligent poetry.“
Independent Book Review
My books (Only English) #1 Amazon bestseller, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings (Vita Brevis) #1 Amazon Bestseller, Women: Splendor and Sorrow (Vita Brevis)
Thank you to all my followers who reviewed my books. Please read other reviews here:
โWith lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela M. evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.โ Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller โDrowning Ruth.”
