ॐ My grandfather once told me that in Africa most people feel rhythm naturally because of their mother. He said that during the early stages of life, it is traditional for African mothers to tap on the infant’s back in rhythmic patterns to put her baby to sleep. As the child grows, the rhythm becomes ingrained.

But the year I was born was the first year of the bloody Liberian Civil War. The tapping came with a steady chatter of semi-automatic weapons — and my mother’s tears. My mother once told me that when she couldn’t help her tears, she danced while she cried. She said that I was right there with her moving my little feet by her side. ॐ

∞ ZONDO (ABRAHAM MELLISH) ∞