Monday Morning Blues

Trees are mostly bare and the sky is gray.

I’m out for a stroll this fine autumn day;

Pause in tree cathedral and by the way

Hear symphony of winds light music play.

Vermillion carpet underfoot holds sway;

Joins bands of many colors woes to slay. 

I drop to my knees and earnestly pray

For ease of melancholy and dismay.

Woods rid heart of baggage, that’s not hearsay,

While winter’s minions ready their mainstay—

Snows and chilled winds in blustery horseplay

Made of mirth and mischief till Groundhog Day.

Walk, walk in nature when heart feels astray

And blues wrought by life ere long slip away.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Band Of Many Colors

Vermillion Repose

Kiss Autumn Goodbye

More than three inches of rain inundate the Carolinas.Vermillion carpets of maple leaf litter lighten rain-dampened moods. In woodlands and city neighborhoods, summer  abandon cedes dominion to autumn serenity. Humble abodes of fine-feathered denizens in pine bowers are mute reminders of merriment past and gaiety come springtime.

Leaf fall carpets vale

Feathered cohorts fly the coop

Raindrops hang in trees

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Kiss Autumn Goodbye

Nebulous Euphoria

Fog-shrouded early bright on the Haw River creates dreamscapes, which rouse imagination and enduringly alter perception of our natural world.

Mystical dayspring,

Calm river heightens dreamscape—

Altered consciousness.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Nebulous Euphoria

Soothing Interlude

Short days cue Jack Frost,

Whilst summer spends last hurrah.

Ah, soothing interlude!

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Soothing Interlude
(Haw River near the old cotton mill town of Bynum NC USA)

Perpetual Jubilation

Whispers of mist release daybreak into woods.

Round-the-clock lightheartedness fills old growth

And autumn spectacle in neighborhoods,

While heart and soul lend musing gaze to both.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Lightheartedness Unleashed

Divine Spectacle

Hitchhiker

My horseless carriage stops briefly woodside.

By chance gives bodacious hitcher a ride.

She cares not what lies around the next bend;

Rides with total abandon—loves a godsend.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Hitchhiker
(Carolina Anole female, brown morph)

Autumn Resplendence

Pensive at heart I brood in soundless wood,

Where mist beclouds essence of life ablaze,

Ere long sunburst revives joys of childhood

As pristine light brightens mood to lift daze.

Hushed kaleidoscope of autumn shouts joy;

Gives new life to sunlit spiels of summer days,

Which tried to persuade akin Helen of Troy

That her beauty alone sets hearts ablaze.

Lively winds permeate autumn woodland.

Uplifting breeze showers brightly-hued leaves

And hail of acorns without slight of hand

Into leaf litter to feed four-legged thieves.

Trust in sunny sides of life, heart and soul;

Let simple joys reign free of undue control.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Autumn Resplendence
(Carolina woodlands north of Pittsboro NC USA)

Glory Days

It seems for days on end, featureless veils of fog subdue vibrant hues in tree lines and set restrained autumn moods. Weary of slogging through early autumn brume, soggy leaf liter and woodland morasses, Cooper and I look forward to and celebrate life amid glorious, sun-dappled foliage. When first shafts of sunlight pierce leaden skies and set tree canopies ablaze, the landscape extols divine majesty, lightens our footfalls and raises spirits.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Autumn Morass
(Mr Cooper)

Resplendent Specie

Autumn Blaze

Sunburst

Betrayal

Betrayal lingers like stench in stockyard.

As lack of trust makes life insufferable,

Flesh and blood come to be gravely scarred

And dark heart makes the soul vulnerable.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

On a morning outing with Melanie and Cooper, we chance upon a splendiferous mushroom highlighted by warm daybreak light. White warts, but also battle scars from nibbles and pecks define its red countenance. While taking a closer look I overhear its whispered cries of “Et tu, Brute,” the famed line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, in gentle rebuke of its two and four-legged brethren who betrayed its peaceful existence with selfish albeit small acts of violence.

In minds eye, then pen to paper, I find parallels in the human condition.

Et Tu, Brute
(Amanita mushroom)

Goodness Unchained

Within bitter heart lurk torment and strife,

Spurred by demons named hate and anger.

Given free rein, they breed tragedies in life;

When cowed, goodness prevails over rancor.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Goodness Unchained
(Cleome aka Spider Flower)

Passion - Desire Set Afire

What separates well-lived from life mundane?

Rhythm of swift horse on windswept plain,

Storied days hooked on cowboy way of life,

Where brotherly ties make trail rides worthwhile.

Moonlight strolls on sandy ocean shores

By desirous lovers longing to embrace,

Awash in feelings akin breaking waves,

Yet exquisite like butterflies in meadows.

Light captured in a single pearl of dew

With velvet gloves of quietude at dawn,

Then spilled in strokes across white linen realm

As words that caress human heart and soul.

Find passion within simple things in life,

Where passion thrives as desire set afire.

Ilija Lukić 2020

Note: Written while admitted to UNC Hospital, Chapel Hill NC for heart stent procedure...reflections about my cowboy days in NM, first date with my wife and love of photography and writing.

Mutual Respect

Peace and harmony flow when hearts brim with mutual respect.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Mutual Respect
(Arapaho Warrior painting by Ilija Lukić with clay and horsehair sculptures by Linda Person)

Mushrooms Into Eagles

Does taking a risk increase the likelihood of making a mistake? I think not. It’s a toss of the coin. Inaction in the face of social upheaval wrought by the persistent coronavirus pandemic and riotous civil unrest more often than not leads to regrets over lost opportunities and successes.

On an outing into Carolina woodlands with my canine pal Cooper, I discover a mushroom in the damp duff. Albeit beautiful, it is not an eagle in majestic flight. A flurry of thoughts race through my mind. Have we as a people become akin a mushroom…resigned to lives away from sunlight…safely tucked into our respective corners of duff…afraid to engage in societal issues.

When I ponder the last six months of life in America, every heartbeat and fiber of my being screams the adage “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” Wake up America, challenge naysayers and purveyors of divisiveness, doom and gloom. Be that eagle taking bold flight into murky skies, for you know our best days are ahead.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

A Heart Content

Wallow not in despair wrought by false idols,

Who gage human essence by traits skin-deep.

Countervail spite with love not reprisals

And a heart content with life you will reap. 

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Virgin Wood
(West of Pittsboro North Carolina)

God Bless America - Independence Day 2020

In the 1980s and 90s during the darkest days of the Cold War, I served more than a decade in Belgium and Germany on the front lines in our determined stand against the scourges of Communism, Fascism and promotion of worldwide anarchy by our adversaries. These days our country faces the same darkness once more...this time from within.

While serving in distant lands ever mindful of local cultures, we gathered encouragement from standing shoulder to shoulder as Americans in heart and soul. We opened gatherings, whether formal military function or social event with a prayer, our National Anthem and often the song "God Bless The USA." Time has not erased the emotions that welled within each such assemblage, as we stood united in preserving the ideals of our founding as a Nation, side-by-side, hand-in-hand regardless of race, creed or social background.

This year illuminations from one end of our country to the other marked our Independence Day. My favorite were the fireworks over Mt Rushmore National Monument.

Authorities in many states limited or cancelled public gatherings, celebrations and fireworks. However, our indomitable American spirit of patriotism was not muted as citizens celebrated and then lighted night skies above cities, villages, even single-family farm and ranch homes with personal fireworks. I'm proud to be an American!

I enjoy traditional Fourth of July festivities and take time to listen to the song "God Bless The USA" written by Lee Greenwood in 1984. Irresistibly the lyrics inspire hopes and prayers that we as a people set the spark of unity which stirred so long ago ablaze once more. God Bless America!

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Sunshine For The Heart

Last night’s passion lingers on finger tips,

While tender whispers keep daybreak at bay.

Till hearts bid adieu with tears upon lips

That ache for new tryst with little delay

Be still, let me make sense of your heartbeat

And kiss me like there are no tomorrows.

Touch my soul earnestly, without deceit.

Let heart’s eye find us lustful in meadows.

Summon into mind sunny garden bower

Where we renew love’s essence when apart;

Because my heart, like a field sunflower,

Thrives on the sunlight that floods from your heart

Love lives not in reason, but in the heart,

And grows most deeply when hearts are apart.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Eternal Battle Of Light vs Darkness

Recently an important person in my life pronounced my views of our country to be filthy and an unacceptable contagion.

I pondered the comment in relation to my life experiences and present national mood. Unmistakably, I sensed that odious shadows vying for dominion over our country’s soul since time immemorial have cast darkness across our land, intent on overwhelming goodness and respectable behavior. The reward this darkness seeks is to turn each one of us against the other.

Children of light, let us resolve to forgo browbeating at the behest of evil.

Coming of age as the son of immigrant parents, who chose life in America some 60 years ago to fulfill their yearning for life, liberty and opportunities to pursue happiness, colors my worldview. We strived to honor the history, ideals and customs of our new home and achieved citizenship. I felt duty-bound to help protect and preserve our family’s and Nation’s dreams and aspirations through thirty years of military service across four continents.

Extensive travels at home and abroad provided firsthand knowledge of humanity and shaped world-wise character attributes. I suffered the slings and arrows of the human condition, experienced and observed instances of inhumanity, oppression, racism, intolerance, hate and various forms of governance. On each return to American soil I thanked God to be back in our storied homeland.

Are we perfect in our journey and exercise of God-given rights enshrined by our founders in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? By no means--we are fallible, but remain humanity’s best hope for equality and dignity for our and the world’s citizenry.

Our country was founded by individuals not only escaping religious and social discrimination, as well as political persecution, but also families longing for economic mobility. Nevertheless history does repeat, no matter how those with political power try to disguise their dark motives in advancing control and submission of the populace. Must we as a Nation continue to endure such a sad and unnecessary state of affairs?

Each day voices from children of light grow stronger among God’s faithful and people of good will. Light inevitably gets the better of darkness. Let us strive to be brothers and sisters and work hand in hand to realize our inalienable rights for every citizen.

© Ilija Lukić 2020


                                         By The Dawn's Early Light

Spiritual Showdown

When evil rears its odious, dark mien,

A world enlightened must rise and decry

Its breath of darkness unleashed to demean

And slay good brethren causing hue and cry.

Soon throes of chaos grow beyond the pale,

Beset storekeepers in the early bright

Amid brume shrouding sorrow and travail,

Which stifles breath after malicious night.

I strive to fathom darkling atmosphere

Cast across heretofore undaunted realm

Like prophetic darkness out of yesteryear—

Plagues of locust hell-bent to overwhelm.

Become as little children, free of evil;

Denounce dark hearts and harmful upheaval.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Light Triumphant

Hope Dawning

When chaos reigns I draw courage and inspiration from inner realms. Those parts of my nature where the divine spark resides, where creative ideas take root, where mind and spirit meld, where love reigns supreme and peace is the natural order of the world. These realms are not a refuge. They are gateways to decency in verbal expression, behavior and moral parameters. Here is where hope springs to mind, forgiveness dwells and I hold dear eternal truths that define my essence and way of life.

Want of peace plagues heart

Sunrise hush floods mortal coil

Hope springs eternal

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Ante Meridiem
(Sunrise in woodlands near Bynum NC USA)

Footnote Of History

Using righteous protests over the murder of an American citizen as cover, riotous hordes wreak havoc which tears at the fabric of America. They draw our attention, but how often do riots improve the lives of people? We see riots lead to injuries, death, destruction of property and arrests, yet frank assessment of tensions and underlying causes rarely if ever takes place. Solutions to quell the violence must include understanding that in the heat of the moment rioters are unappeasable. Most importantly, we must resolve to denounce and stop those who incite violence and exploit social tensions for political gain and power. Lest we keep repeating history.

It’s time to come together as brothers and sisters, lest we perish as a ship of fools subservient to ill-intentioned governance and media sowing discontent so as to have our passage on Earth amount to an insignificant footnote in history.

In order to move forward we must firmly acknowledge old grievances and pain, make a checklist of consensus remedies and immediately put words into action. Let’s write a new chapter in our story as a Nation aligned with ensuring our Great American Experiment proclaimed 244 years ago succeeds.

© Ilija Lukić 2020

Reveille
(Forest trail near Bynum NC USA)