Life's Gateways

Weary souls mark time,

Till hearts open new doorways—

Mind cedes means and time.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Thirty days after the spring equinox, summer-like temperatures and azure skies invite exploration of a few miles along the tortuous 180-mile Jordan Lake shoreline. I affectionately call the ecosystem spanning riparian woodlands, sandy westward beaches and rugged eastern sandstone banks my stomping ground.

Every venture into said wilds, while afoot or later in mind’s eye, takes me through physical as well as perceived and ponderable gateways into the natural world and life itself. With rare exception even brief immersions deliver on promises of adventure, but also gains in knowledge and spiritual enlightenment for this agreeable mortal.

Life's Gateway

(Ebenezer Point on Jordan Lake NC, monochrome)

Finding Closure

Heed heartfelt ways,

   It hasn’t steered you wrong.

Ignore naysayers,

   Life’s most wretched throng.

Once twilight looms

   Bid earthbound days so long,

With heart and soul

   Wrapped in sublime swan song.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Seeking Closure

(Loblolly pine and willow oak at Ebenezer Point on Jordan Lake NC)

The Child Within

As life runs its course,

Drink wide-eyed from the cup of life—

Like a little child.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

St Mark's Chapel

(Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh NC)

Cordial Showdown

Sun first wanes on high

Then slips velvet bonds of Moon

And champions rebirth

Once again the age-old dispute of celestial spheres over dominion in the firmament of Heaven ends amicably after a cordial showdown in the skies above Mexico, across the United States and up to the Canadian Maritimes. 

The spectacular event embodies the age-old metaphor for overcoming obstacles by bending like a willow to the tempests of love, loss, wisdom and power that daily life throws our way. As the moment of deepest effect the Moon has on the face of the Sun passes, a palpable sigh of relief and jubilant cry of “let there be light” wings skyward from awestruck individuals, small groups and large gatherings of people.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Let There Be Light

(Self-portrait, photo impressionism)

The Mordecai House

The foundation and major portions of this historic landmark date back to 1785. It's located just one-half mile north of today's North Carolina State Capitol building.

As it has through the centuries, the oldest residence in Raleigh weathered last night's onslaught of spring thunderstorms well. Flowers sheared from the lofty canopy of a stately sweet gum tree carpet the grounds. The clusters compete for attention with the golden hues of the house siding and spring greenery. Gray skies bathe the setting in a gentle flat light. For a few moments time stands still and gracefully rewinds in mind's eye. Combined with the quietude and effect moisture has on enriching colors, the scene stirs nostalgia for a bygone era.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

The Mordecai House

(East-facing elevation and grounds)

Second Bite At Life

 Fickle spring weather

   Flaunts winter’s tether,

Restoring trust in steadfastness,

   Sells urge to persist

   Gives life a new twist—

Emboldening new beginnings

Birds of a feather

   Oft flock together,

Pursuing dreams that lie dormant.

   So, make a short list,

   Good friends will assist

Emboldening new beginnings.

Be a bellwether,

   Stop useless blether,

Navigate life with verve and zest.

   Ban cease and desist,

   Though heart may resist

Emboldening new beginnings.

When spring rolls together

   Bright highs and dark nether,

Reflect on life…take second bite.

   Born again, insist,

   Get off waiting list

And embolden your new beginning.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Second Bite At Life

(Photo impressionism of Chinese Witch Hazel petals)

Naked Harmony

On-again, off-again rains over a fortnight have raised Jordan Lake water levels. Muddy ribbons of river and creek inflow hint at the benign turmoil their waters contribute in restoring ecological health and aesthetic beauty of the waterscape.

Once more windswell laps against eroded banks, where human and feathered fishers pursue prey. Nearshore willow oaks set buds and continue their vigil as keepers of the lake. In defiance of raw early-spring weather, the naked harmony of the ecosystem conveys a significant message of spring renewal.

© Ilija Lukić 2024 

Naked Harmony

(Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake, North Carolina)

Spring Sunrise

My essence, distilled into a mid-afternoon shadow, moves without a sound across the divine perfection of sunlit Jordan Lake shorelines.

In mind's eye the scene brings together time, space and imagination. It shapes poetry of spirit and light. Tree pollen washed onto the lakeshore resembles backlit clouds at sunrise. Leeched hues from clay soils add passion. What would said drama be without a human heart to appreciate the awesome overture to joy and new beginnings daybreak epitomizes. 

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Spring Sunrise

(photo impressionism, self-portrait)

Silvered Serenity

Our latest rainmaker leaves in its wake blustery northerlies, windchills in the thirties and a veil-like layer of cirrostratus clouds. Ice crystals within the clouds disperse light from the waxing gibbous Moon to create a large halo.

I venture out to Jordan Lake. The raw night air sends chills through my body. My turned-up coat collar and shelter in a windbreak created by shoreline trees provide a measure of comfort. The reward is an enchanted, moonlit landscape flush with silvered serenity.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Silvered Serenity

(Jordan Lake, North Carolina)

Sunset Beginnings

At sundown near my home, the blue celestial sphere dons red and bathes woodlands in empyrean fires. It’s a mystical moment on the wheel of life when the alpha and the omega become one.

The awesome wonder inspires heart and mind to communicate, then spill wisdom into whispers of evening breeze. It’s a cautionary reminder—leave bygone days behind and embrace the idea that sunsets are new beginnings, once and for all. The experience weighs on my heart, until I give it wing with prose and poetry.

At sundown blue celestial sphere dons red.

Said wonder and dulcet nightingale song

Put thoughts of drudgery and grind to bed,

Ask weary heart and soul to come along

On journeys with forward-looking mindset

That master burdens of life large and small,

Which darken bliss and give rise to regret—

Embrace sunset beginnings…once and for all.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

New Beginnings

(First spring greenery in woodland blaze at sunset)

Paradise Restored

When affection fades,

Bruised heart yearns for wholeness—

Free will shepherds change

© Ilija Lukić 2024

In defiance of raw March weather, clay soils, meager rainfall albeit an abundance of sunshine, jonquils fulfill their desire for affection to be reciprocated by human eye and heart. Sprawled along the edge of a park woodland, they buoy and lead bruised hearts on quests of introspection towards the moss-covered solitude of a rustic gazebo.

Paradise Restored

(Gazebo and jonquils in Mary Holmes Park in Pittsboro, North Carolina)

Nightrise Lullaby

At sunset the vast expanse of the harsh Llano Estacado tablelands quiets frazzled souls with enchanted lullabies. It’s a mellow melody of golden prairie grasses below pinking eastern skies that reaches into hearts, yet pokes inquisitive minds. In order to appreciate the calming rise of night across eastern vistas, I shift my focus of attention away from the fiery main event in western skies.

On this early April evening, I pause on my sojourn across Rockin’ J ranchlands near Broadview, New Mexico just as the sun dips below the westward skyline behind me. Facing east, I marvel at how the curvature of the Earth casts a blue shadow at the base of clouds collected over the range. The shadow rises slowly akin a veil below tinges of reds and yellows painting cloud billows. 

I learned years ago that my eyes sense these warm colors at sunsets, because they arise from longer-wavelength light waves of the sun's visible light spectrum. As such they are not readily scattered or removed by air molecules or dust in the atmosphere, even when they travel the long distances from sunset horizons to reach receptive eyes and in turn the warm approval of my heart.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Nightrise Lullaby

(Llano Estacado near Broadview, New Mexico)

Circle Of Life

So it begins: First traces of tree pollen dust homes and landscapes; dogwood and redbud blossoms lift spirits; baby greens signal nature's awakening from winter slumber; and the call of wild lands urges mindful meanders through oak and pine cathedral forests.

I  make my way across wind-snapped logs lying on top of and under thick carpets of pine straw. The dried-out, brittle pine needles deceptively cover pits, loose rocks and climbing vine snares. Every guarded step creates a footfall with distinctive snap, crackle and pop. Enveloped by silence, broken only by bird song and distant drumbeats of a woodpecker, my winter-weary spirit renews and soars.

I am glad to have been mindful of Irish lore and wear green, thus manage to avoid getting pinched by mischievous leprechauns.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Renewal Of Spirit

(self-portrait)

Vernal Awakening

Circle Of Life

Rough-Hewn Sanctity

An hour or two after midday, a powerful spring storm takes aim at the 13,000-foot massif named Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range to the east of Las Trampas, New Mexico. For more than 240 years, the San José de Gracia Church in said hamlet on the High Road to Taos has stood in quiet dignity as a symbol of faith, hope and love—a refuge for local parishioners and travelers.

The modest, sunlit facade of the sanctuary bespeaks its centuries-old role of an indomitable haven of peace, challenging Cimmerian shades and furies of tempestuous life forces…the proverbial eternal conflict between good and evil.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Beacon Of Spiritual Enlightenment

(San José de Gracia Church, Las Trampas NM, c. 2012)

Harbingers Of Spring

Winter, methinks, is as good as gone.

Baby greens perk up lake shores and hills,

Queen bumblebees buzz, they count on

Spring chorus of jasmine and daffodils.

My heart soars with clouds in azure skies,

While jasmine spreads joy in spring sunlight

And songbird concertos at sunrise

Make tuneful bid to steal the limelight.

With wedges of geese high above town,

Robins pull worms, barn swallows grace air;

Then, tree frog crooners chirp at sundown,

Eager to impress their ladies fair.

Winter cedes reign, with veto powers,

Lest one forgets late-spring snow showers.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Baby Green Breeze

(Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake NC)

Harnessing Winds Of Change

Perched atop craggy caprock bluffs above the Llano Estacado breaks just north of Grady, New Mexico, well-intentioned intrusions of modern human existence impact the visual beauty of landscapes and quietude of wildlands. Wind turbines, wheels within the wheel of civilization, spin noisily on the breath of prairie winds. Here serenity has a different definition, one surreptitiously spun unto civilized hearts by a desire to do good.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Harnessing Winds Of Change

(Northern Llano escarpment above Canadian River Plain)

Cowboy Days

My friends—Tony mounted on Melonhead a sure-footed red mule and Randy on his spirited Arabian—scout a passage across ancient Llano Estacado dunes. Some remain subject to the whims of winds, while others are stable thanks to short-grass prairie cover peppered with sage and shin oak. Local ranchers and farmers call these sprawling borderlands between Portales NM and Muleshoe TX the Sand Hills. A stanza from one of my early poems recalls this day...

Smell the sage, roust antelope and deer;
Ride fence down draw and over sand hill;
Round up heifers and chase ornery steer
And get ‘em to water ‘neath lone windmill.

After a raw April day of chasing cattle—including longhorns—in a Spring roundup, we're eager to reach home hearth fires before a threatening Norther plunges temperatures and whips up bone-chilling rain squalls.

© Ilija Lukić 2024

Scouting The Sand Hills

(East of Portales NM)

Silent Majority

Evil flaunts ascendance

  Among humankind,

Sows moral turpitude

  In heart and mind.

Dares legion of good will

  Facing battle royale,

With armies of darkness

  In any locale,

To wake divine spark,

  Upset applecart,

Gather lost souls and have

  A heart-to-heart.

How might one contribute

  To said noble goal,

Such quest to make once more

  Mankind’s heart whole?

Whether in public square

  Or quiet abode,

Raise Cain, but evermore

  Take the high road.

Lend might of righteous voice

  Forego hateful arm,

For the latter will bring

  Collective harm.

 

Speak up for goodness,

  Lifeblood is at stake—

Silence will not a majority make,

© Ilija Lukić 2024

The Lean Years

(Llano Estacado north of Clovis NM, c. 2014)