Indian Summer

Summer-weary flesh longs for restful chaise

And asks the spirit to collaborate,

While Indian Summer airs avert malaise

And inspire bold change of heart, checkmate.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Our latest dry spell and a forecast of week-long, unseasonable daytime highs touching the 80-degree mark usher Indian summer into the eastern reaches of the Piedmont Plateau in the Carolinas.

Indian Summer

(At home in Powell Place, Pittsboro NC)

Snooze Button

Now and then push daily grind’s snooze button!

Each season of life speaks well of said repose

To cold-shoulder one’s inner, blue funk glutton

And keep at bay heart and soul’s dreaded throes.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Mellow Promenade

(Cooper's Cove at Jordan Lake NC)

Striking Pianissimo

Plumed songstress holds court

Locals pause with bated breath

Silence speaks volumes

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Striking Pianissimo

(Cortadera selloana aka Pampas Grass plumes)

Pillars Of Creation

From time immemorial, humans have held trees in high regard as conduits between the temporal and spirit world—they link Heaven and Earth. By dint of divine life force within their ageless stateliness, solitary giants as well as those kept company in treed landscapes downplay troubled life blues and soothe mortal coil. Life quickened with renewed passion makes the heart sing.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Pillars Of Creation

(Cooper's Cove on Seaforth Peninsula at Jordan Lake NC)

Chronon - A Quantum Of Time

Rooted in the human heart is the yearning to leave footprints in the sands of time. On a recent meander down Jordan Lake shorelines, my shadow encounters a unique and discrete moment in time--a chronon given temporal expression by fleeting alluvium patterns of oxidized sand. I pause and muse...let my shadow be the footprint I leave upon our natural world.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Chronon - A Quantum Of Time

(self-portrait)

Armageddon

Evil lurks in odious muck, hatred by name,
And thrives when hearts turn to darkness within.
Yet wellsprings of love, no matter how scattered,
Prevail in the end to the Dark Lord’s chagrin.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Once again ram’s horns echo across the valleys near the har Megid’do and call armies of goodness to battle. Predictably long sighs of sadness and piercing cries of pain and suffering follow, but when all is said and done goodness and noble souls rooted in truth, freedom and dignity will surely prevail.

Nobility Of Spirit

(Cooper's Cove at Jordan Lake NC)

Empyrean Light

Moon beams cosmic truths

Streetlights emulate Moon’s passion

Life makes sense once more

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Moonlit celestial spheres and earthbound brightening of mist-laden autumn nights encourage bold steps in the eternal human quest for the source of spiritual light.

Empyrean Light

Ides Of October

Field and stream raise melodies of autumn.

Summer rests her repute on laurels earned,

When sunlit moods kept hearts off rock bottom

And dances with gloom were with ease unlearned.

Tired old Moon paints summer’s eulogy

Across thin clouds in starlit firmament,

While earthbound allures postpone glum elegy—

For summer’s end does not deserve lament.

Much as I brace for bouts with winter blues,

Summer signs off with brightly flowered flourish

And woodland holds back motley blaze of hues

That, come rain or shine, my heart does cherish.

Autumn draws nigh and lays bare heart of gold;

Said purity once roused grows bliss hundredfold.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Seasons come and go. As summer cedes dominion and exits stage left, her swan song emboldens woodland artistry to transition to early autumn hues. Said gentle yo-yo rides tug at heartstrings, lighten moods and encourage mortals to muse.

Ides Of October

(Pond Trail at Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake NC)

Paragon Of Serenity

While waning Moon paints Summer’s eulogy

Across thin clouds in starlit firmament,

Earthbound allure postpones glum elegy

For summer’s end does not deserve lament.

© Ilija Lukić 2023

Paragon Of Serenity

(Pond Trail on Seaforth Peninsula at Jordan Lake NC)

Human Nature

Flesh wrestles with doubt

Hearts plead, slow the wheel of time...

Life is short, be bold

© Ilija Lukić 2023

One of my retreats where time slows and nature spills wisdom…a place where answers to eternal questions about human nature often drop anchor after mindful leaps of faith.

Mindfulness Realized

(Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake NC)