Scarlet Song

One imagines the birth of happiness to be accompanied by some great spectacular upheaval. One can imagine it flowering in the most luxurious setting. Yet happiness is born of a trifle, feeds on nothing. Enormous value is set on it. Its acquisition seems to demand a high price. Yet happiness can flourish in a university lecture theatre. A bare shoulder can bring it to life. A few steps, and it is within your grasp. A half-turned head… a face seen in profile… and fluids start to flow together to create a union. The couple is born. The first steps are taken in a thousand-year-old mission. Here, a man, a woman. Elsewhere, a man, a woman!

– Scarlet Song, Mariama Ba