Just the word "political" is polarizing. Regardless of context or specifics, the word alone conjures up passionate sentiments, a loyalty to beliefs, and the steadfast opinion of right versus wrong. There are an almost infinitesimal number of political issues, each with their own set of proponents and opponents. With such emotionally charged topics, it is no wonder that poetry serves as an ideal medium for the articulation of political stance. Through the manipulation of poetic form and content, a writer is given the unique opportunity to create a piece that can effectively stimulate and inspire its readers without ever entering active dialogue (and sometimes, without even explicitly addressing the issue). The piece "Beginning at the End: Capital/Capitol Punishment" is able to achieve a charged affect through a recount of the speaker's experience. The poet never outright states his opinion on the subject (capital punishment), but instead leads the reader to a specific conclusion. The title itself is strongly referential by simply contrasting the term Capital with Capitol Punishment. This juxtaposition contrasts the idea of capital (which are components of production that are used to make a final good, but are not of value themselves) with the death penalty, achieving a parallel between the use of a human as a means to an end with that of a material good. What could such an end be? The speaker writes "I want to scream something like gendercide". The poet is not only speaking out against the general use of capitol punishment, but rather the specific use of capitol punishment to target groups of individuals.

The speaker humanizes an experience that has been demonized by society. Through this piece he is able to flip the standard scenario, by creating an alternate murderer and victim. Rather than the victim being the innocent individual who was killed by the person receiving the death penalty, the "criminal" becomes the victim as he has committed no crime. The murderer in the poem is the executioner, who seems to be knowingly killing an innocent man. The poet recounts,

"Here I sit, my head is shaved, they strapped me in, my mother just waved
Is there anything I can do to be saved, Lord, here I sit.
There is a grin on his face as he throws the switch
Is he a man or the devil, I can't tell which"

This stanza is so powerful. For me the first lines conjures up images of concentration camps and the murders of throngs of innocent people (which I believe is precisely the poet's purpose).

The poem itself sounds like a prayer, or a simple hymn that follows (for the most part) an aabb rhyme scheme and makes use of repetition. Throughout the poem the speaker is addressing his "Lord", and his frustration with the injustice of his situation is undeniable. As the poem progresses we get a sense that the speaker's faith in his "Lord" is faltering as he gets nearer to his death. He eventually writes,

"Well here I sit, now I don't give a s-. Lord, here I sit.
(Here I sit, I think my heart just quit, Lord, here I sit)."

The title also includes an interesting allusion to the afterlife ("Beginning at the End"), which interestingly ties in with the end of the poem. After the death of the speaker, he writes

"Back to your right hand is where I hope to stay
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...
Is it God, Lord, Jehovah, Lord? Yaweh, Lord? Krishna, Lord?
Obatalah, Lord? Wakantonka, Lord? Allah, Lord?"

Each of these names is used to refer to "God" in different religions. The speaker's questioning about which is correct is very interesting. I interpret this question as confusion or doubt on behalf of the speaker. It's as though the speaker's injustices have led him to doubt the sanctity and even the existence of his Lord.


-e. gutilla