Craig E. Chaffin

I recently stumbled across Craig E. Chaffin, a wonderful poet. Here's a brief interview with him about his new book.

How did you come to write “Unexpected Light?"

I've been publishing poetry for 40 years, and this is my second book. My first was published in 1997. This is my second book, 12 years in the making. It deals with many themes, including the usual four in poetry: God, Death, Nature and Love. The last section of the book, in fact, is devoted to love poems. And that was a main impetus for the book. I had compiled a manuscript entirely of love poems but no publisher showed interest, so I limited the love poems to my very best 20 or so and added poems on other themes, and voila! I had a publisher go all the way for me, including royalties—for poetry, imagine!



Why did you call your book “Unexpected Light?"

First, it is mentioned in the last line of the poem, “Prayer to la Virgen,” detailing how Christ was lucky enough to receive a donated grave.. But more so, when I fell in love at 45 for the first time (and it has continued ever since), I was shocked out of my mind. It was truly unexpected light. 

Trained as a medical doctor, I had always been rational about love, thinking (in C. S. Lewis's words) that love should be the result of, not the reason for marriage. All that changed when I met Kathleen. And right after I met her my second wife e-mailed me that she was leaving—such synchronicity!--leaving me a perfect opportunity to experience romantic love for the first time, a gift I wish for everyone. And true love is not just infatuation but an abiding love, a love that puts on overalls and boots in the service of the beloved.



Where can we get a copy of “Unexpected Light?"

It's available through Amazon.com and all the usual suspects and any bookstore will order it for you. Best to order it directly from the publisher. There's a page on my website where you can do that: http://cechaffin.com/light.html



It comes in hardback for just $20 and paperback for $12. I wish I could give it away but I can't afford it. Seven reviews have already been published, and I can say without embarrassment that they have all been glowing.



Here's a short excerpt from one of the love poems, “Valentine 2008,” where the speaker imagines his love as a waterfall:



Inside the moss-lipped haven of your granite

I hide behind your thundering skirt of water.



Your clarity dissolves all self-deception.

I would not recognize myself without you.



The shelter of trees is never so generous

As your pouring and thinning of yourself



Into the forest air. I kneel and drink

And like the alder rise up satisfied.




Lady Jane Unleashed

Check out my other blog for more regular updates. The link is on the right...

A muse... or amusement?

My gorgeous and gifted friend Ulrike drew this picture of me at my birthday dinner. I love my tiara and the fairies flying around my head. She’s the one next to me with the funny look on her face and tins of fairy bomb in front of her. We actually look like that regularly, not just on my birthday.

Check out Ulrike’s other artwork on her blog:
http://edition-9.blogspot.com

Abaracadabara!

Thanks thirties... and goodbye!

My thirties began:

Holding my newborn son, Buster… He was two weeks old, yet his stare was ancient. He seemed to say, “Not how you expected to celebrate thirty, aye!”

Buster turned ten two weeks ago.

This pixie-like boy defined my thirties. He is my mirror, my teacher, my greatest worry, an infinite love, my sidekick. I often look at him and wonder how something so magnificent came from me.

Together we navigated my early thirties:

Five years of wandering through airports together, hands held tight. New countries, new adventures. Trudging through snow in New York to get him to school, running through forests in Europe, blessings in Japan. Our flat in Sydney, our beach house near Byron Bay, him in a kiddie seat on the back of my bike. The curve of his neck, the shape of his bottom, the freckle on his lip, the secret signals we have that silently declare our love to each other, our songs… He introduced me to Demeter within. Sometimes I struggle with her, usually I embrace her… occasionally I resent her deeply.

There were tours and plays, Buster sitting at the sidelines, his little legs swinging. I miss the theatre, the smell, the camaraderie, the late nights, the highs. Theatre was my first love. We broke up a few years ago. We’ll get back together soon.

I was halfway through my thirties when…

Vesuvius entered my life with a roar. Oh how I worship this child with his free spirit and curly mop, his fearsome temper and eccentric outlook. While Buster has lived a million times before and carries the weight of those lives around with him, Vesuvius is new here… He has no shackles, no cares… no real empathy for the human condition because for him it’s just a game. He is the most outrageous creature. I watch him and I’m in awe at his complete lust for life.

Twelve years of wandering the world came to a standstill when he was born. I returned home to live, although it took some time to call it home. I was more relaxed, less obsessed, willing to embrace free-range parenting, often through sheer selfishness, but mostly because it’s what he needs.

I spent all of my thirties writing. Obsessively.

Four years of my thirties were spent breastfeeding. 2 x 2.

Two years were spent as a stranger in my own country… wondering where I’d go next… and then:

I fell in love… with Sydney.
I separated from my husband, and discovered that he is the greatest man I’ve ever met. He treats me like gold, which teaches our sons to do the same. The bar is high for future lovers. So far, no one has come close.

My friendships have become more significant, more profound, more necessary. I love my motley crew of friends deeply… My family means more to me than ever. My family has expanded in the most unique ways. Finn was born… what a journey for us all, this child not of my blood, but of my soul.

My plays, awards, children’s books, published pieces, it all started to happen. Every spare second I had… I wrote. My first novel was published… finally!!!! I give gratitude for my amazing managers in LA, who encourage and guide me, and have opened doors that other people would kill for. I am fully aware of how blessed I am. Opportunities arise… I’m working on projects… a tipping point… ready to… go.

I am healthy. I am happy. It’s rare that I’m not. I’m positive, hopeful and grateful. I’m relentless in my quest for me. Focussed on my inner journey. I make no apologies for who I am. What other people think of me is not my business. I refuse to be chained, caged or suppressed by society or individuals… or myself. I embrace my wildness. I give free reign to my personal power. I am in an excellent place.

Thanks to my thirties.

I am now ready for my forties, and all the wonder the decade will hold.

The most beautiful harbour in the world.

I want an endless summer

I don’t want summer to end. Usually by March I’m ready for autumn, but this year I’m panicking as the cool nights creep in. Dread clutches and claws at me.

I don’t want the leaves to change colour, or the searing heat to end. I don’t want to pack away my flimsy dresses and replace them with boots and jackets. I want the heat, the smooth sweaty skin, the beach, the barbeques, the beer… the beautiful bronzed boys. In want to dance in next to nothing, twirl in summer rain. I want the fan on while I sleep. I want to duck spider webs when I leave the house. I want the grass to be dry and the wind to be hot and the sun to bite my skin…

I’m simply not ready for the cold. I hate that I have no control over the change of seasons… Autumn has arrived and winter will inevitably follow.

Autumn used to be my favourite season, but now that it's here…

I want an endless summer.

And I realize, my mood has nothing to do with the Wheel of Seasons… but the Wheel of Life… and my fear of turning forty.

A Surfing Christmas

The lovely Meryl Harris has been interviewed on Jelli Beanz blogspot. Check out the interview AND while you're at it, buy her beautiful book, A Surfing Christmas.

http://www.jelli-beanz.blogspot.com
http://www.merylharris.blogspot.com/
www.blake.com.au

Facing 40!!!

I am smack bang in the middle of massive change. Some of it’s of my own making… I’ve made some decisions recently to face my fears, which means a busy month doing things I’d rather not do. Like my stand-up comedy debut. Other changes are happening whether I like it or not. For example: my birthday on March 11. It’s roaring towards me… and of course I want it to, because I either reach my next birthday or I don’t… and “don’t” isn’t appealing. But it comes packaged with a four and an oh! OH! Oh fuck… I’m forty.

I figure there are three ways to greet forty. I can fight it tooth and nail, which is tempting, but let’s face it… it’ll win. I can lie back and accept it without a whimper… but that’s not my style at all. Or I can embrace the bitch and redefine my life.

I choose option number three.

I’m working on a project at the moment with the very amazing Nik Halik. (More details on that soon.) Nik gives good quote. One that recently had an impact on me was:

“You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome.”

Obvious… and yet how many of us are stuck in a routine… not only a day-to-day routine, but also a regular way of reacting to events and occurrences as they come up? If the way you dealt with something in the past didn’t bring positive change into your life, then why react the same way over and over again. I want different outcomes, so I’m doing things differently.

This week, I finally face my public speaking fears, first at ARRC in Melbourne… and then onstage doing stand-up. I’m not even scared. I’m actually relieved that I’m finally taking massive action. Different action…

But the quote that has had the most impact on me is one by Jung:

“Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on a child than the unlived life of the parent.”

It inspires me. I read it and have no choice but to step into courage and action. I can either be stuck in life, weighed down by my baggage, trapped by my inability to change… or I can choose to live, really live, not just for myself, but also for my children. I feel I’ve always been reasonably brave with my choices, and I’ve certainly lived an interesting and varied life… but recently I’ve settled for less than I deserve. I have embraced mediocre, when I should have magnificent.

I want my sons to live and love with courage and freedom… therefore I must too. I must be the example. For every fear I have, I’ll eventually have ten times the regrets if I don’t face it.

So… as I face… and embrace the big 4.0… I challenge myself to live and love with wild abandon. I dare myself to take risks, face my fears, regularly visit territories outside my comfort zone… and live… really live.

Masaru Emoto