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SWIFT : a memoir
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 17, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 31, 2026
Probably the most beautiful memoir I’ve ever read , enthralling interesting emotional and no holds barred. Also very easy quick reading prose. Wow. I have so many emotions running through my body right now
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April 20, 2026#Swift – Melinda Ferguson
#RideOrDiePress
The ability of birds to soar between heaven and earth has given rise to religious and cultural beliefs regarding their mythical roles in life and death. Ancient Egyptians proclaimed that an aspect of the soul, the ba, left the body as a human-headed bird at the moment of death, folklore believes that certain birds are harbingers of death, the Aztecs were of the opinion that the dead were reborn as hummingbirds, and Celtic myths see birds as connectors between this world and the next. In general terms the mobility of the soul and the denial of the finality of death are deeply entrenched within the symbolism surrounding birds. Even angels born of various religions are depicted with wings, often covered with feathers, and Noah chose a bird to explore the new world that awaited them.
On 16 November 2025 Melinda Ferguson impulsively responded to a group message requesting assistance with a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. A week later, on 23 November, her beloved soulmate, Mat, died. The little bird turned out to be a Swift, a magnificent little specimen often confused with a swallow and had a very narrow margin to either become airborne, or to be bound to earth and die: “Their bodies aren’t built for this earth. If they fall, they get stuck on the ground.” (65) The battle for the Swift’s life became interwoven with her grieving process. Drawing on the stories we tell ourselves to survive, she doggedly refused to give up, intensely yearning for the setting free of Mat’s soul on the wings of her delicate charge.
The intensely personal memoir of pain, loss, and rebirth, comprises two distinct parts. The first, printed in black ink on a white backdrop, is titled A Love Story. Readers familiar with Ferguson’s previous memoirs, Smacked (2005), Hooked (2010), Crashed (2015) and Bamboozled (2021) will recognize some of the brief recaps, like her fight for sobriety, the devastating motor vehicle accident, toxic relationships, life on the streets, rapes, and violence: “I’ve been trying to escape the dread of the future and the regrets of the past my entire life…” (35) But it is primarily a love story, hers and Mat’s. There was “…sudden order and symmetry in this brutal and chaotic world.” (21)
After 11 years together, Mat suddenly dies. She is left with the aftermath, forced to dance the Zombie Tango with the bureaucracy of death, alternating between fury, immense loss, unanswered questions, quiet desperation and seething pain. The second part of the memoir opens with white ink on a black backdrop, and is titled Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend.
This painful time was penned in the six weeks following Mat’s death. The narrative is brutal, raw, honest, and heartbreaking. Initially the contradictory emotions ruled supreme, adding to the emotional chaos in the bleak wasteland: “I continue feeding the bird, worm for worm, holding it in my palm. It’s the only thing that’s real right now.
I want everyone to leave.
I want everyone to stay.
I know if they leave, I will give up on breathing.” (106)
Mundane tasks, like sorting his clothes, allowed her brain to believe that if she could rearrange clothes, she could control death, but time stopped moving in familiar lines, and the linear world melted into a Dali painting, her nights reinforcing her pain with the impact of being flung through a windscreen with pieces of glass pushed into her eyes.
Until she hears him, her beloved with the heart of feathers, telling her: “I have taught you everything I can. It was time. I needed to go.” (115) Her journey to the release of his soul becomes interlinked with the Swift attaining its life purpose: to fly, to the point where the individual destinies can no longer be separated. At the time of her first meeting the Swift, the fledgling was the believed weight of a soul: 21 grams.
The loss that follows departure pales in comparison to the joy of the pending arrival; the noise ceases, peace sets in, and hope is rekindled: “Fare well, SwiftMat. Until we meet again in the castle that you and the Swifts are building for us in the sky.” (240)
Grief may be the thing with feathers, but for everything there is a season.
#uitdieperdsebek
#RideOrDiePress
The ability of birds to soar between heaven and earth has given rise to religious and cultural beliefs regarding their mythical roles in life and death. Ancient Egyptians proclaimed that an aspect of the soul, the ba, left the body as a human-headed bird at the moment of death, folklore believes that certain birds are harbingers of death, the Aztecs were of the opinion that the dead were reborn as hummingbirds, and Celtic myths see birds as connectors between this world and the next. In general terms the mobility of the soul and the denial of the finality of death are deeply entrenched within the symbolism surrounding birds. Even angels born of various religions are depicted with wings, often covered with feathers, and Noah chose a bird to explore the new world that awaited them.
On 16 November 2025 Melinda Ferguson impulsively responded to a group message requesting assistance with a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. A week later, on 23 November, her beloved soulmate, Mat, died. The little bird turned out to be a Swift, a magnificent little specimen often confused with a swallow and had a very narrow margin to either become airborne, or to be bound to earth and die: “Their bodies aren’t built for this earth. If they fall, they get stuck on the ground.” (65) The battle for the Swift’s life became interwoven with her grieving process. Drawing on the stories we tell ourselves to survive, she doggedly refused to give up, intensely yearning for the setting free of Mat’s soul on the wings of her delicate charge.
The intensely personal memoir of pain, loss, and rebirth, comprises two distinct parts. The first, printed in black ink on a white backdrop, is titled A Love Story. Readers familiar with Ferguson’s previous memoirs, Smacked (2005), Hooked (2010), Crashed (2015) and Bamboozled (2021) will recognize some of the brief recaps, like her fight for sobriety, the devastating motor vehicle accident, toxic relationships, life on the streets, rapes, and violence: “I’ve been trying to escape the dread of the future and the regrets of the past my entire life…” (35) But it is primarily a love story, hers and Mat’s. There was “…sudden order and symmetry in this brutal and chaotic world.” (21)
After 11 years together, Mat suddenly dies. She is left with the aftermath, forced to dance the Zombie Tango with the bureaucracy of death, alternating between fury, immense loss, unanswered questions, quiet desperation and seething pain. The second part of the memoir opens with white ink on a black backdrop, and is titled Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend.
This painful time was penned in the six weeks following Mat’s death. The narrative is brutal, raw, honest, and heartbreaking. Initially the contradictory emotions ruled supreme, adding to the emotional chaos in the bleak wasteland: “I continue feeding the bird, worm for worm, holding it in my palm. It’s the only thing that’s real right now.
I want everyone to leave.
I want everyone to stay.
I know if they leave, I will give up on breathing.” (106)
Mundane tasks, like sorting his clothes, allowed her brain to believe that if she could rearrange clothes, she could control death, but time stopped moving in familiar lines, and the linear world melted into a Dali painting, her nights reinforcing her pain with the impact of being flung through a windscreen with pieces of glass pushed into her eyes.
Until she hears him, her beloved with the heart of feathers, telling her: “I have taught you everything I can. It was time. I needed to go.” (115) Her journey to the release of his soul becomes interlinked with the Swift attaining its life purpose: to fly, to the point where the individual destinies can no longer be separated. At the time of her first meeting the Swift, the fledgling was the believed weight of a soul: 21 grams.
The loss that follows departure pales in comparison to the joy of the pending arrival; the noise ceases, peace sets in, and hope is rekindled: “Fare well, SwiftMat. Until we meet again in the castle that you and the Swifts are building for us in the sky.” (240)
Grief may be the thing with feathers, but for everything there is a season.
#uitdieperdsebek
May 23, 2026
The Swift flew into my heart and nestled there for the entire time (two days) it took me to read this exquisite account.
Melinda Ferguson has delivered an indescribably tender memoir, written during a time of heart wrenching sadness and grief. Just before her soul mate's sudden passing Ferguson becomes a mother to a fledgling Swift and, with the help of a distant Swift activist, meticulously nurses the tiny bird back to health so that it is able to fly away, taking Mat's spirit with it on its new journey. All of this is happening in the midst of profound loss, family arrangements and a thousand unanswered questions.
The author takes us on a lyrical journey of deep love, sorrow and vulnerability. I felt as if I'd been given permission to touch both her grief and my own and reach for the future.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful writing.
Bravo, Melinda Ferguson!
Melinda Ferguson has delivered an indescribably tender memoir, written during a time of heart wrenching sadness and grief. Just before her soul mate's sudden passing Ferguson becomes a mother to a fledgling Swift and, with the help of a distant Swift activist, meticulously nurses the tiny bird back to health so that it is able to fly away, taking Mat's spirit with it on its new journey. All of this is happening in the midst of profound loss, family arrangements and a thousand unanswered questions.
The author takes us on a lyrical journey of deep love, sorrow and vulnerability. I felt as if I'd been given permission to touch both her grief and my own and reach for the future.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful writing.
Bravo, Melinda Ferguson!
April 18, 2026
Bias disclaimer. Melinda is both my best friend and my publisher. But.
Swift is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, devastating and hopeful reads of my life. Half way through this un-put-downable prose poem to life, death, love and nature I cried so hard I wasn't sure I could continue. But the end. The final, magical moment was perfect. Just like The Little Prince.
Swift is a small miracle, in every sense of the word.
Swift is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, devastating and hopeful reads of my life. Half way through this un-put-downable prose poem to life, death, love and nature I cried so hard I wasn't sure I could continue. But the end. The final, magical moment was perfect. Just like The Little Prince.
Swift is a small miracle, in every sense of the word.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews