Migration of a Swallow (Paperback Edition)

How much of what we experience is the result of a single conversation, a “Yes” or a “No”, a turning down that street instead of this one?

For those who know me, what you read here may shock you.

For those who don’t know me, here is the honest telling of a story that had to be told. It broke my heart to tell it, but if even one man reads it and learns to know himself then I’m glad I had the courage, finally, to share it with you.

I was a boy with a beautiful life in South Africa. I became a homeless teenager in the rotting, violent guts of inner-city Birmingham because I said “Yes” when I should have said “No”. I surfaced with nothing but questions about the life we live: the relationships, the systems, the controllers.

What I learnt changed the street of my life entirely.

There’s a reason for the telling. I want my children to know the man their father was, and who he has become. And I want to acknowledge the distance I needed to travel, that we all need to travel sometimes, to get to who we truly are.

The swallow is a small bird weighing about 20 grams. It travels 12,000 kilometres between South Africa and Scotland during its migration, using landmarks, oceans and stars to navigate its flight.