Muddled Spirit

When downcast heart longs for serenity
And muddled spirit invokes God's grace
Made clear in celestial music of eternity, Till bliss and muddy river of life embrace.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Muddled Spirit

(Spring flows on Haw River near Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Shadows Of Life

Poetry makes light the shadows of life.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Shadows Of Life
(Self-portrait)

Gateway To Eternity

Hearts deprived of daydreams

Awash in pensive affection,

Sentimental reminiscence

And understanding of yesteryear

Make souls vulnerable

To less principled journeys

Into Eternity.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

The Ferguson House c.1915
(The Wade Hampton Farms homestead along US Highway 64 west of Pittsboro NC)

Urban Artistry

My early afternoon outing to the community of Siler City, North Carolina finds preparations for the "Person 2 Person Fest" in full swing. It is award winning local artist Roger Person's 80th birthday and the town celebrates. Person has a habit of dabbling paint on his shoes in whimsical extension of his art. Last night town folk honored his life and quirky habit by painting hundreds of shoes with creative arrays of color. Today the shoe artistry adorns shops, trash cans, phone booths, outside eating areas at restaurants, traffic signs and such.

Albeit transitory, the shoes are an enjoyable introduction to the folk and fine art treasures of the artist community in this urban setting. I find numerous galleries in league with the NC Arts Incubator offer studio space and venues for artists. On the street large murals add an air of creativity to aging, brick building facades. Chatham Rabbit is prominent. In the early 1900s Chatham rabbits are a prized source of meat hunted exclusively in the wild. Relegated to lore the lagomorph's allure enjoys revival at the hands and imagination of artists.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Chatham Rabbit

(Ten-foot mural in Siler City, North Carolina USA)

Bubbles N' Brick

(Sculpture of cut PVC pipe on brick facade in Siler City, North Caroline USA)

Person2Person

(Courtyard Cafe in Siler City, North Carolina USA)

Spring Serenade

An 80º F spring day settles into eventide across Haw River environs. Vernal renewal stirs spring fever. Young and old take time to enjoy the gentle rush of river waters and remember bygone days in the village of Bynum, when a covered bridge graced the river crossing. Only remnants of the once majestic structure remain. Delicate sunset hues delay shadows of nightfall as water fowl conduct last forays for an evening meal. Serenity reigns in heart and mind.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Bygone Majesty

(Remnants of covered bridge which spanned Haw River and cotton mill race at Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Spring Serenade
(One of the Haw River side channels near Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Spring Fever

Spring cajoles cool winds

Breeze wakes primordial life force

Patience quickens triumph

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Spring Fever
(Tobacco shed next to Old Rock Springs Church Road, Pittsboro North Carolina USA)

Seasons Of Existence

While my timeworn spirit beleaguers youthful fantasies,

Weathered countenance makes known age-old poetry,

Written in essence gathered among sweeping galaxies

Which rest on nameless peaks in far-away high country.

Crow’s feet bespeak my soul, its quest of pure existence,

Its journey to the beginning down untold strands of time,

Its journey on paths of temptation and fateful resistance

To its divine nature marked by shifts in moral paradigm.

Much as deepest furrows on said face betray heartbreak,

Pain disguised by stoic mien and misconceived reason

About love lost, fathomless grief or anguish of mistake, 

They speak of strength, ‘cause every woe has its season.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

El Llanero Viejo
(Self-Portrait)

Spring Paean

Hope eases into vernal wood

Bold flush of color invites reverie

Blues linger on wintry breath

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Spring Paean
(Riparian woodlands at Jordan Lake, North Carolina USA)

Mists Of Time - Transcendence

Hope without end is a towering lighthouse,
A comforting guidepost in mists of eternity.
Both meek and lionhearted mortals espouse
Hope’s power amid tangles of uncertainty.

Faith is that sacred leap into seas of doubt,
That spiritual light within the purview of soul.
Ere long said faith cultivates a lead-off sprout
Within the rich harvest of trust believers extol.

Love prevails in amaranthine mists of time,
Endures all hardship besides uncalled strife,
Softens time apart with memories of sublime
Sips from chalices brimming with elixir of life.

Hope, faith and love transcend mists of time
And often bear fruit when unfolded into poetry.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Mists Of Time

(Woodlands near Pittsboro, North Carolina USA)

Moments Of Eternity

Cherish fleeting washes of sunlight

On eager chorus of spring flowers,

Below pinking skies of early bright

Refreshed by kiss of vernal showers.

Behold sunrise mists along glassy lake.

Hear herons squawk and clapper lustily

And gulls on wing cry above boat wake. 

Said moments define beauty musingly.

Breath of life begs more than hasty looks,

More than rare encounters with eternity.

Where beauty wells from age-old brooks

Lay bare your soul, transcend mortality.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Moment Of Eternity

Tinge Of Hope

Cold hush bodes despair

Hardship meanders down river realm

Sunset hues raise hope

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Tinge Of Hope
(Winter sunset on the HawRiver near Bynum, North Carolina USA)

Winter Manse

As crystal flurries settle into woodland cathedral,

A refuge for deer and songbird of crimson wing,

Exquisite silence drapes ridge and holler primeval

While winter’s frosty breath in grove reigns king.

Grassy knoll and autumn tillage long for wintertide.

They commit to endurance under coverlet of snow

And frost on flaxen straw in dreamland countryside,

Where folks bide time till buds grace pussy willow. 

Long winter nights have need of warm hearth fires,

Where dance of flames gives heart and soul wing,

Makes way for tales of peril, hope, playful desires

And encourages musing about life in wait for spring.

So cast aside reason, hear lively wind in solitary pine,

Know play of sunset hues on icebound lake expanse,

Chase moonrise above glen and wooded ridge line

And find childlike comfort in Mother Nature’s manse. 

Spellbound I press against frosted window panes,

My heart captivated by abundance of ethereal down,

As icicle splendor, hoarfrost and snowy country lanes

Grow into reverie ‘bout winter days in our small town.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Star Dust
(Abandoned farm on Farrington Road east of Pittsboro NC)

Česnica - Serbian Christmas Bread

While a freshly-baked loaf of traditional Serbian Christmas bread (Česnica) cools, Cooper and I make an excursion to nearby Mary Holmes Park. We find the morning low of 1ºF has moderated to 27ºF. Cooper enjoys a carefree romp in the woodlands. I take pleasure in the crunch of snow underfoot, even as the arctic air leaves love bites on any exposed skin surface. 

Meager late afternoon sunlight does little to add comfort. We quickly decide the better part of valor is to head home, where aromas of freshly baked bread and pork roast quickly mellow adversities of winter. Soon our family will gather for dinner. 

Grandfather Ilija and oldest grandson Maximilian will break the Česnica to start festivities. In turn each family member will tear off a piece of the sweet bread. Everyone, but especially the grandchildren will quest the good luck coin Baba Melanie baked into the Česnica. According to tradition, whoever finds the coin will be blessed with good fortune in the year ahead. Mir Boži, Hristos Se Rodi...God's Peace, Christ Is Born.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Serbian Česnica

Winter Repose

'Tis time, dim autumn lights and let hearts turn to winter repose.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Winter Repose

Infinitude

Footfalls rustle at death’s door

Sunbeams reveal time without end

Infinitude beckons inner self

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Infinitude
(Old Rock Spring Baptist Church at historic Chatham County cemetery, Pittsboro NC USA)

Shadowless Pulchritude

Chilled hush enfolds misty woodland,

Feathered summer guests have gone,

Quietude reigns until raucous raven band

Declares any heaviness of heart undone.

Rejoice, they squawk, adorned in gold,

Delight in crimson splash on nearby ridge,

Discover frosted fields in realm age-old

And lovers in embrace on covered bridge.

Treasure promises of abundant spring,

Recall midsummer lightning bug romance,

Hold dear Harvest Moon merrymaking

And mindful surrender of self to life's dance.

Fear not, take wing in shadowless silence, alas,

Pulchritude endures in withered leaf and grass.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Shadowless Silence

Boulder Gardens

In daydreams I meander

Stony-rough banks of river wild,

Where reverie brings to mind

Turbulent stretches of water

And stately boulder gardens

In tawny flows of Adam’s ale.

I muse over single droplet

Caught in spirited whitewater,

Destined for sandy shore

And frothy waves on briny deep.

Then comes eleventh hour

Of my midsummer daydreams. 

I pause and ponder said droplet

On its fateful quest to know its place

In aforesaid chaos of risky water worlds,

Torn between comfort in age-old seaways

And ethereal mists below starlit skies

Awash in first light hues.

In the end, its place was always

Alongside boulder gardens

In restful shade of sycamores

Rooted to banks of river wild.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Rockbound Harmony
(Haw River late-September east of Pittsboro NC USA)

Fall Melodies

Summer takes leave as fall gains dominion,

Yes, once a year these old friends compete

Amid cherished heyday of mutual admiration

Among vast woodland and paved city street.

Neither boasts, instead each resounds airily

With plainsong of joy in colors most sublime,

Until melodies become memories of serenity

Composed upon never-ending pages of time.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Fall Melodies
(Mary Hayes Park, Pittsboro NC USA)

Wisdom Of The Wood

Every tree embodies timely verses of poetry,

Every trunk holds aloft sage insights, behold,

How every wink of sunlight amid said artistry

Opens one elusive portal to wisdom untold.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Wisdom Of The Wood
(Riparian woodlands at Lake Jordan, North Carolina USA)

Harmonious Chaos

Autumn arrives shrouded in mists and drizzle. The only drawback to exhilarating hikes on wooded trails are the threads of spider silk that span the passage. My canine companion Cooper couldn't care less. While I enjoy nature's artistry he chases squirrels and crows and inspects decaying tree skeletons, casualties of summer storms. Sixty-degree temperatures and lively breezes whisper songs of autumn, tussle pine tops and raise pleasant woodland aromas off spent summer splendor now carpeting the forest floor. By nightfall forces at work in windblown pine straw cast across city sidewalks intrude upon starlit skies and spawn tornado warnings across the Piedmont Plateau and eastward.

© Ilija Lukić 2017

Woodland Scout
(Cooper in Mary Holmes Park near Pittsboro NC USA)

Harmonious Chaos
(Photo-Impressionism)