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.
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
Plumed songstress holds court
Locals pause with bated breath
Silence speaks volumes
© Ilija Lukić 2023
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
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.
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.
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
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.
While I prepare for bouts with winter blues,
Summer signs off with brightly flowered flourish
And autumn holds back motley blaze of hues
That, come rain or shine, my heart does cherish.
© Ilija Lukić 2023
Fall draws nigh, behold…
Forest lays bare heart of gold
Bliss grows hundredfold
© Ilija Lukić 2023
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.
© Ilija Lukić 2023
Spirited dances by Summer’s floral legacies in a meadow along the Pond Trail on the Seaforth Peninsula wake first whispers of Autumn’s Muse. Said lively hoedown tempts mortals to pause and catch their breath from summer adventures. Moments of reverie smooth the way to the Autumn Equinox slated for the wee hours of tomorrow’s morning.
Placid pools in braided stretches of Haw River side channels fill hearts with wonder and infuse tranquility into tempests of daily life.
© Ilija Lukić 2023
Mischief holds allure
Villainy beguiles weak souls
Devil’s on the loose
© Ilija Lukić 2023
The timeworn ramp of the old covered bridge across the Haw River at the historic cotton mill hamlet of Bynum, North Carolina gingerly entwines its weathered structure with the threads of time. Built in 1879, the bridge in its heyday serves as a major crossing connecting Chapel Hill to the north with Pittsboro and Sanford to the south. Festooned appropriately with floral sprays of Old Man's Beard and poised atop bridge pylons awash in Duckweed-covered mill race waters, this ramshackle remembrance allows mind's eye to easily wander down memory lanes of bygone days.
© Ilija Lukić 2023
It’s been hot as hell
Autumn whispers at heart’s door
Mind blinks…ride it out
© Ilija Lukić 2023
As sultry summer days outstay their welcome,
Said earthborn misery seeks company
Of kindred living souls who in days to come
Will keep one’s heart from beating sullenly.
Dog Days ebb midst lasting dearth of wet stuff,
Wild streams flow with humble lack of restraint,
Denizens of field and stream, strangely enough,
Draw breath and prevail without great complaint.
Take to heart Earth’s patterns of endurance
Marked by ebb and flows, hard knocks and boon,
Then set your mind at ease with assurance
That this too shall pass with the Harvest Moon.
Good humor rules when mortals take delight
In seasons of life bent on toilsome flight.
© Ilija Lukić 2023
© Ilija Lukić 2023
Mortals dread life’s end
Shadowed souls seek timeless balm
Swan songs aid said quest
© Ilija Lukić 2023
