Turtle and the Swallow was written over the winter of 2018/19, and published in book form following fall. The story focuses on an encounter between a turtle and a stranger, a swallow who has come to seek refuge at the pond where the turtle lives. An anthropomorphic tale, It explores the very human concerns of frustration and loss, acceptance and renewal. As it developed, the story organized itself into verse form, and ultimately inspired the drawings which are reproduce here. The images and captions are reproduced as they appear in the book.
Briefly, the story unfolds as follows.
When we first meet Turtle, he is a teacher, well into his years. Though his position in his community is in no doubt, he has grown to lament his condition, increasingly consumed by the feeling that his efforts are to no avail. For, no matter how he counsels his students, they still seem unable to escape the harsh realities of their environment, and each year many are lost to predators and famine and the peril of winter.
His own teacher attempts to shift his perspective; but it is the encounter with a stranger, a Swallow, and his witnessing of the magnificent ballet of her flights over the pond that brings him out of his melancholy. He cautiously engages her and discovers something of her life, and is moved by the degree of acceptance with which she bears her own burdens. (She has come to the pond as a refugee fleeing the devastation of a fire which destroyed her home and scattered her companions.)
A conversation about the importance of gifts ensues, with Turtle complimenting Swallow on the humility with which she carries hers, and Swallow, who by this point has garnered much of the truth of Turtle’s position on the pond, chiding Turtle for the way he has come to ignore the value of his own gifts.
In the end, Swallow returns to her fold, and Turtle comes back into himself, renewed to continue his work by the celebration of life that he has experienced.
The book and drawings were first exhibited at “We Still Make and Read Books 2” in NYC in November of 2019.
The book is available as a print on demand title from Barnes and Noble, Inc.