Hugging This Rock: Poems of Earth & Sky, Love & War

In a new collection of poetry about life and war as a pilot, parent, and outdoor sports enthusiast, Northeastern Minnesota author Eric "Shmo" Chandler delivers plenty in laughs and love-of family, of country, and of navigating one's place in the world. Whether soaring at 40,000 feet, or carefully considering the flowers he encounters by the trail, his words are rich with insight and humor. Here's one of his poems: "I Can Already Hear It" Afterwards, the flags sprouted up like flowers, an explosion of unity. I was old enough to know they would tatter and fade like the public's passions. The magnets that support the troops would fall off the cars into the ditch. A good thing would turn into a demonstration of short attention spans. I could already see it. I sit at my breakfast table. I read National Geographic and crunch on some cereal. I'm old enough to know that the music drifting in from the other room won't last. My kids will grow up and leave home. The piano that I don't know how to play will fall silent. I can already hear it.

Author: Jeff Mlady, Eric Chandler
Publisher: Middle West Press LLC
Published: 10/27/2017
Pages: 118
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.28d
ISBN13: 9780996931748
ISBN10: 0996931740
BISAC Categories:
- Poetry | Subjects & Themes | Places
- Poetry | American | General

About the Author
Cross-country skier, marathon runner, and former F-16 fighter pilot, Eric Chandler is author of the 2013 collection of essays Outside Duluth, and the 2014 military-themed novella Down In It. His fiction, non-fiction, and award-winning poetry have appeared widely both on-line and in print. In 2016, Chandler was the first-prize poetry recipient of the inaugural Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Award administered by the on-line literary journal Line of Advance. He repeated as the poetry winner in 2017. He is a member of the Lake Superior Writers organization, the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and the Military Writers Guild. A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Chandler retired after a 24-year military flying career with the U.S. Air Force and the Minnesota Air National Guard. He is a veteran with three deployments to Saudi Arabia for Operation Southern Watch; three deployments to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom; and one to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. He flew more than 3,000 hours and 145 combat sorties in the F-16. Now a commercial airline pilot, Chandler lives in Duluth, Minnesota with his wife, two children, and a dog named Leo.

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