When dogged by dark times,
Adapt, bring to knees all gloom—
You know who you are.
© Ilija Lukić 2024
Vignettes on the Spiral of Life
When dogged by dark times,
Adapt, bring to knees all gloom—
You know who you are.
© Ilija Lukić 2024
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.
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
As life runs its course,
Drink wide-eyed from the cup of life—
Like a little child.
© Ilija Lukić 2024
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
When affection fades,
Bruised heart yearns for wholeness—
Free will shepherds change
© Ilija Lukić 2024
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
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
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
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
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