Rose-colored skies court farewell reveries.
Along with musing about bygone year,
They rid heart of shadows that cloud memories
Of the good that abounds in earthly sphere.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When life hits doldrums,
Hitch a ride on winds of change.
Kiss tried and true goodbye.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Warm summer glow dims in mind’s eye.
Jack Frost cheers…all systems are go
For Saint Nick’s sleigh ride across snow
With reindeer predisposed to fly.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Courtly shadows lengthen across meadow.
Time slows briefly, grants needful introspection,
Helps deal life’s fuss and bother mortal blow
With shadows—envoys of divine perfection.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Bar none, mousekins big and small,
With bright natures one and all,
Fear not chill winds, snow and ice
‘Cause Santa’s extra nice to mice.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
In fifth grade our art teacher takes his protégés into nearby palace gardens and asks us to capture the essence of trees with pencil on paper drawings. Over the years my charcoal, pencil and ink renditions of trees, as well as monochrome photography, invariably make use of the artistic vision given life in those formative moments...through my perceived essence of trees...as mystical conduits between the temporal and divine.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
With the winter solstice a fortnight away, autumn foliage at the Seaforth Promontory on Jordan Lake, North Carolina continues to defy rain, wind, fog and overnight lows below the freezing mark.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Another welcome rainy day comes to a close in the pleasant fullness of late afternoon sunshine. In quiet celebration, waterlogged woodlands roll out vivid leaf litter carpets and defiantly colorful albeit sparse foliage along sodden trails for those adventuresome human hearts in search of serenity...je faire ses adieux à novembre.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
While light of day suffers defeat, tugs heartstrings,
Cordial sunbeams invite restful early black
Convinced the orb of night waits in the wings
To make known shadows that hold cockcrow back.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Just when one comes to believe Mother Nature cannot better her vernal awakenings and sun-kissed summertides, she defies yearlong expectations and a good many days under the spell of mists below milky skies by donning her autumnal glad rags…all the while mindful that winter’s knocking.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Heavy overnight rain and wind fill woodland ephemeral pools, liven streams and put final touches on the immersive theater of Autumn in the Carolinas. By mid-afternoon skies clear and I venture down woodland trails appreciative of the curtain call to one of the greatest shows on Earth.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Much as the heart speaks of love in stillness,
The mind must hang on said silence with heed
And let patience make vivid that speechlessness
Lest lips unleash feelings loved ones misread.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Don't just loathe dictates,
Be free, like the river wild--
Kiss caution good bye!
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Winter awakens with well timed prelude.
Sunlit foretaste of rawness reigns supreme,
Awes heart and soul in breathless interlude
Where lambent hoarfrost makes plain sublime theme.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Pessimism driven by the darker side of human nature increasingly weighs down hearts and turns our way of life topsy-turvy. Stand fast against wrongdoing, reach for and find solace in such fundamental truths as trust in God, family values and a belief in the basic goodness of our sweet land of liberty…let freedom ring!
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Life stokes reckless itches
Till twilight knocks subtly—
Lays bare that regrets burden heart.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Last night Frost Giants of Norse mythology breached the boundaries of their icy Jotunheim realm and made an overnight incursion into the eastern reaches of the Piedmont Plateau. By daybreak nothing but ground frost and lingering shadows mark their passage homeward down favored escape routes across meadows and woodland clearings. Their raw breath lingers on whispers of ominous tidings—beware, Winter’s knocking.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Some hold the soul to be without beginning
And furthermore as true it has no end.
Others believe God, as divine wellspring,
Creates each new soul for time without end.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Pittsboro Historic District architecture puts on quite a show wrapped in autumn regalia, while basking in two days of surprising albeit welcome 80ºF temperatures. The Hall-London House was built c.1836 by Dr Isaac Hall, who resettled from Scotland Neck, North Carolina. The Federal/Greek Revival style dwelling was later occupied by Henry London and family from 1880-1918. The latter was an attorney, state senator and founder-publisher of the Chatham Record newspaper…in print since 1878.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Misgivings about the future are a never-ending scourge, until you take that fateful first step onward…come what may…and discover the worrisome consequences are in fact building blocks for success, self-confidence and wisdom about life.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Soul yearns for order
Mind prefers flights of fancy
Heart goes with the flow
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Daybreak brume bodes change
As fall wanes with telltale clues,
Though mists of life veil truth.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Life’s course begs bold pace
Time crawls like long-lived river
Harmony brings peace
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Inner silence inspires quietude,
A stillness of heart which makes life more whole
And grants true knowledge of infinitude
By noble union of body, mind and soul.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Give summer leave to steal away with grace
Amid nostalgia etched on mortal heart.
Breathe easy, look at autumn’s mellow face,
Not as summer’s demise, but a work of art.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Chilled autumn airs marked by nary a breeze,
Loose acorn showers from oak canopies.
For wildlife said rhythms hold cherished reprise
Of divine bounty, before the first freeze.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Turmoil plagues hearts, yet
Calm sweeps rocky peace of mind
When autumn hush lulls chaos.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
A soul worse for wear longs for breathing space,
While carefree summer days fade in whispers.
What balm can soothe this blessed hiding place
Better than autumn’s dance beside rivers?
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Freedom of speech in streams of consciousness
Comes to pass when heart, mind and soul cast out
Crushing fear of rebuke or consequence
And affirm power of choice day in day out.
Discourse thrives when free will’s radiance,
Akin primordial glow in woodland dawn,
Enlightens darkness cast by man’s ignorance
And thus endures as freedom’s unique spawn.
In truth, tree colonnades bathed in divine light
Hearten innermost thoughts, feelings and woes
And in short order their stately theme makes right
Grim notions that free speech draws mortal blows.
Judge not free speech as disobedience
Instead of heaven-sent experience.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Offbeat rhythms reign
Heart bids farewell to summer
Autumn knocks—listen
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When dog days bathe body and soul in swelter,
Make time to catnap in central air shelter.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Exquisite dragon flashes gilded wings,
Plays touch and go on placid lake waters
And then decides to pull fishers heartstrings,
While it alights to avoid shoreline hunters.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Written at the request of my friend Kelly Riverwalker Thomas to capture his experience of watching a dragon fly.
Vivid memories captivate mind’s eye as I muse about my days in jeans, straw hat and spurs, while cowboying with friends on the high plains of the Llano Estacado Plateau across Texas Panhandle and New Mexico borderlands. Every moment of chasing ornery range cattle down draws and over sand hills into boundless horizons before settling down at days end under fiery sunsets is a lifetime of adventure. The horse in the photo is "Crazy Eyes."
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Unfold life’s journey
Without rush to arrive.
By choice linger
On waypoints of gladness,
Since the requisites
Heart and soul need to thrive
Are without doubt
Love, peace and happiness.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Allow nature to speak to your heart.
Her soothing tongue gives wisdom a fresh start,
To quell hell fires of destructive speech
Driven by guile and thoughtless overreach.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Thin mist bedims mesmerizing onrush
Of tawny torrent touched by sunrise blush,
Yet buoys miserable heart and soul averse
To mystical songs called God’s universe.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When life hands you a slice of Eden, don’t just nibble on the beauty of Heaven on Earth or pass a hesitant eye over the landscape from afar. Take a walk on the wild side and you’ll experience the bliss that flows from walking on sunshine.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Spend just one hour in nature and you will renew your grasp of eternity and stoke the immortal fire within your soul.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When life plays havoc with best laid plans, a riverside sojourn puts mind at ease by immersing senses in either the soothing temperaments of gentle flows or the harmonious chaos of wild water quietude—unshakable stillness of heart and spirit takes root.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Daydreams varnish truth.
Hence Old West myths captivate,
Yet, doubts roam mind’s eye.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Loblolly Pines are prolific pollen producers. For a few weeks in April, landscapes, patios and porches, cars, waterways and lakes sport golden hues. Airborne pollen mingled with humid spring air scatters sunlight to create milky skies for days on end.
To some said happenings are annoying and serve as conversation fodder, while other embrace them as welcome harbingers of spring. Last night rainstorms give brief reprieve as downpours cleanse woodland habitats and city neighborhoods, leaving in their wake gold-tinged rivulets of runoff—reminders that in time this too shall pass.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
In the wake of heavy rains, floating river debris and uprooted trees wreak havoc on the historic Bynum Cotton Mill Race.
Excavated around 1872, the mill race runs about 2000 feet parallel to the Haw River. Originally a wooden dam upstream diverted river flows to power mill water wheels. In time turbines and electrical generators made use of the same mill race to provide power for the textile mill, as well as the company town of Bynum. Said boon made the hamlet one of the first areas in Chatham County to enjoy electric lights. Operations ended in 1983.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When Nature’s minions go all out frightful,
Warm hearth fires make life most delightful;
Tasty morsels of food help allay fear
And make winter’s last dance seem less severe.
Just days ago song birds welcomed spring,
Now fluff up, huddle and seldom take wing,
Spring lambs stop prance to ask why and wherefore
Cold freight trains of north wind like lions roar.
Much as life throws challenges your way,
Tidbits of chaos poised to dismay,
Never say die, akin a roughrider
And take life head-on with eye of the tiger
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When cold drizzle drapes quiet neighborhood
And overshadows upbeat springtide mood,
Warm thoughts boost frame of mind without delay,
For no holds barred happiness rules the day.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Slings and arrows of present day
Cloud hearts and minds, take breath away;
Darken the soul and put on hold
Sacrosanct freedoms, truth be told.
“Let freedom ring” a brave man shouts,
“Darkness doesn’t rule hereabouts.”
He prays the world steps up tenfold
Their aid against vile stranglehold.
Whether from outside or homegrown,
Yokes of tyranny cannot postpone
Pursuit of inalienable rights,
Innate bar none in human hearts.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Paper Wasps (vespidae wasps) make nests from fibers of dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva to fashion delicate gray or brown papery cells. They have open combs with individual cells for their brood. The wasps attach the nest to branches or structures with a constricted stalk and spread an ant-repellent secretion around the stem. Wasps are pollinators. They feed on nectar and garden pests such as caterpillars, flies and beetle larvae. Some paper wasps are called umbrella wasps due to the distinctive shape of their nests.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Wood nymphs are protector spirits with dominion over springs, clouds, trees, caverns, meadows and beaches. Woodland folklore describes them as tree dwellers that reveal themselves to mortals as beautiful women. Here on the eastern reaches of the Piedmont Plateau, warm sunny days make for favorable conditions to catch a glimpse of these bashful keepers of the wild.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Mortal existence languishes while sheltered as untroubled reflections of the world on fathomless waters between reality and illusion, until we take charge of our destiny.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Joy defines cloud nine
Mind’s eye pictures blissfulness
Heart loves walks on air
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Hark! Evil rear its ugly head once more
And lives racked with fear and anguish hold sway,
As hearts away from God bring to the fore
Mankind’s dark side goodwill would hold at bay.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Sun grins from ear to ear.
Mind’s eye heeds tale of Cheshire Cat,
As winter fades from hearts?
© Ilija Lukić 2022
While springtime pauses, catches forty winks,
State driven turmoil simmers in world spheres.
Aye, said mare’s nest invites mob rule, methinks,
Till chaos wanes once good sense perseveres.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Cold breeze nags treed slopes
Budding trees catch forty winks
Doldrums cloud good vibes
© Ilija Lukić 2022
In defiance of winter doldrums, the energy of wild lands on the cusp of spring rebirth is palpable in the riparian environs of the Haw River near Bynum, North Carolina.
Veiled in the mystique of springtide, the reawakening of eye-catching amazement in Mother Nature’s winter-weary realm encourages resurgence of our indomitable human spirit—defined, hands down, by courage and perseverance in the face of life’s trials and tribulations.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Inner eye guides art.
Snapshot captures strand of time—
Present becomes past.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Photographs veil objective truth about moments in time. The image makers truth prevails in the final cut, exhorting alternative views of reality…Life Through A Lens, Darkly.
Mother Nature’s reserves her most magnificent poetry for hearts of people perusing pages in her eloquent volumes of silence.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
More often than not a topsy-turvy philosophy of life gives rise to the most accurate understanding of humanity and inspires uncomplicated notions of our relationship to the eternal and each other.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
Strife churns near and far.
Answers must leave no stone unturned—
Change starts with forethought!
© Ilija Lukić 2022
When life holds free will in tight embrace
With course of action hardly possible,
Call to mind alpine blooms in sheer rock face
And choose a life well-nigh inconceivable.
Endeavor nature walks at crack of dawn
Into mind’s eye where reverie holds sway,
Where spirit soars while mind looks back upon
Days when dealing with hard knocks was child’s play.
By dint of angel wings, light of day takes hold.
Pinking skies lend credence to forenamed host
And rouse assurance more than hundredfold,
That all’s right with the world, first and foremost.
Sage foresight gained in vale of tears through grace
Holds key to success in life’s steeplechase.
© Ilija Lukić 2022
