Sh*t My Russian Wife Says: Diamonds
A grocery errand from his Russian wife becomes a test he is sure he has aced — until he learns, comically and too late, what she never actually asked for.
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Essays
Essays and poetry on how we find our bearings — or fail to — through love, loss, literature, memory, and the passage of time.
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- Sh*t My Russian Wife Says: Diamonds A grocery errand from his Russian wife becomes a test he is sure he has aced — until he learns, comically and too late, what she never actually asked for.
- The Fog of War Ocean Swim Again — I broke the rules this morning. My own rules. I had sworn off ocean swims on foggy mornings because my struggles, if any, would be witnessed by…
- Pictures of Eternity A man stands high above a rippled lake Its leaden surface brightened some by clouds Where whiter still a host of swans patrol As trees flame brightly in their…
- Today's Lesson Killing is the most natural thing in the world, so civilization forbids it. A meditation on dominance, mercy, and the justice that holds the line against nature.
2026
Today's Swim
A rough, unpredictable ocean and a mile swim cut short for the first time, set against the sobering news of a champion triathlete who drowned far out of my league.
Today's Lesson
Killing is the most natural thing in the world, so civilization forbids it. A meditation on dominance, mercy, and the justice that holds the line against nature.
Poem
Best Friend
Like every night she steps upon the porch To hear the clack, clack, clack across the floor, An anxious whine, tail thumping like a drum, And then the yelp when she…
Poem
Class Reunion
She walks in sunshine, with shadows of friends Thrown by white painter pants and a whiter smile, Like sun-glint snow, a brilliant prospect So near to my heart, my…
Poem
Everlasting Life
There once was time that stood outside of time – No earth, no sky, no water, air, or land. Then came the Word, the voice of God sublime – Light through the…
Poem
How Might a Love Be Likened to a Rose
A pure pink passion plucked on Friday night, Soft petals brightened by her smile’s glow To open like my heart she set in flight? Is it Adam’s Curse that we must…
Poem
Married Love
My love is not some fancy in the heart, A rush of blood, or coursing through the veins, A heated passion tearing me apart, To leave a hole when nothing else…
Poem
Pictures of Eternity
A man stands high above a rippled lake Its leaden surface brightened some by clouds Where whiter still a host of swans patrol As trees flame brightly in their…
Poem
Take the Bait
The question on your lips, ahh fire, not kissing on my mind. You ask again, no words, but that pleading in your eyes, What, what, what light, so white against your…
The Birth of Christmas
Can you name the great English and American poets? Who comes to mind? Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Whitman. Perhaps Carl Sandberg or Robert Frost? Can…
Poem
The Halls of Mercy
We walked the silent halls of Mercy Beset by whispered ghosts of Kentucky, Of plaid-skirted girls giggling down corridors Decaying now like leaves well past their…
The Value of Life
I believe that all life is precious. Life by necessity must fight the elements of chaos and disorder to remain alive and to pass on life. If life did not act like…
Sh*t My Russian Wife Says: Breath
A blunt Russian verdict on his morning breath — and the rare, hard-won backhanded compliment that eventually follows.
Sh*t My Russian Wife Says: Vitamins
His wife orders him horse-pill vitamins online, and a barefoot morning becomes a small lesson in choosing a peaceful marriage over being right.
Sh*t My Russian Wife Says: Date Night
Welcome Back — She spent seven weeks in Kazakhstan. It’s good to have her back. I had business travel. We had a family reunion. We got pulled between pillar and…
Getting Out of the Pool
Live Bold — The pool is a rectangle. It has a concrete bottom, plainly visible through clear water at a depth from three and a half feet at the shallow end to four…
Swimming Downhill
Going for the gold — Beautiful morning. Bright sunshine. Crisp October air, but flags at the beach whipping straight out at the water. Uh oh. A breeze from land…
Navigation - The Sun
Knowing Where You Are — I had a sudden realization almost as soon as I got in the ocean today, though only after I got over the biological shock of the cold water…
Navigation
Getting Home — The ocean at first looked calmer than the air, with a light rain just starting. Thankfully the water was not freezing like I expected. Maybe mid…
Skiing Through Life
With Fat Fingers — Spring skiing can seem something like sloshing through hell. The snow is melting beneath your skis and you wonder if you should have brought a…
For Every Time There Is a Season
Starting Over — It was a cloudy morning with a hint of sun peeking through in the east at hopeful intervals. I determined to get down to the ocean before the…
Old Friends, New Views
Or, Baby Boomer meets feminist punk rocker — What is new is exciting. What is old can be treasured. Put the two together and you have a trio of lifelong friends…
Why Must We Drink the Cup of Grief?
Where is our red balloon? — What do you do when you know time should stop? Yet it refuses. It does not pause even long enough to let us take in grief. How do we…
The Case of the Expired Listerine
Sh*t My Russian Wife Says — Like I mentioned a few days ago, we just got back to our summer home. The wife rearranges the bathroom, which largely means that my…
Turtle Swim
Tales from Down Under — Down under the water, that is. I walked down to the lake this morning to find it was 58 degrees. Chilly, but a step up from where it was a…
Shakespeare in Love
The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra (1885), Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Shark Week
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water
Ocean Swimming - Late Season Uncertainty
OCEAN SWIM — This late in the year, I want to get in the water as much as I can, because it is going to be a long winter. October water is often warmer than the…
Navigating Poetry
The Garden — Navigation is about more than swimming. It is about how we find our bearings as we move through life. Some paths are chosen. Others seem chosen for…
Ocean Swim - Toss Up
Ocean Swimming – TOSS UP — I woke to a burst of sunshine, and reconsidered my plan to avoid the ocean because of high surf. I can handle the swells, as long as I…
Ocean Swim - Shiver Me Timbers
Ocean Swim - Shiver Me Timbers — If your body temperature is ideal right now, take a moment to appreciate this. We need warmth to move, and more importantly, to…
The Fog of War
Ocean Swim Again — I broke the rules this morning. My own rules. I had sworn off ocean swims on foggy mornings because my struggles, if any, would be witnessed by…
Jelly Swimming
Ignore Evolution At Your Own Risk — Ocean Swimming Again I woke before the sun rose, looking forward to what looked like a clear day, with some cloud cover to keep…
Navigation
Essays by Cliff Boyle — In the hustle and bustle of living our lives, we often forget to reflect on—and enjoy—that life while we can. At least that is part of my…