Song of Becoming

Fadwa Tuqan's "Song of Becoming" reminds me of my childhood friend. I remember the days when we were riding our bicycles roaming around our small barrio to play with other children. The child, whom I once enjoyed the company but can't have even a single dimple on her face today. Memories I recall, innocence we had, but is hard to redecorate now. Maybe because of the thought of what we are becoming right now. The stage wherein we became an adult, being molded and have known issues pressing the present situation we have.

Just like Tuqan's poem, as the title barely implies, becoming which means to become. It is shaping something, the environment, experiences and other factors shaping that something into what it is today. It centers on the life of two young men; from the times of their childhood until adulthood, then to what they are now and the rest of their life's notes. The boys enjoying their childhood until they become the ..."trees plunging deep roots into the earth, stretching high towards the sun." It tells us the boys have grown up into someone who can now decide and stand firm on their own. They have shaped by the environmental factors and experiences thay had. They may enjoy the times of the past but there is also a moment in life wherein they will become the past itself and become a story handed down for generations among a people.