Antonio+Martinez

Beeder is excellent with imagery, allowing all of "Cabezon" (a Spanish word meaning both "bighead" and a type of fish) to focus on description. Lines like "you, chub and bug-eyed, jaw like a loaf" evoke images of a derelict, the kind of person who your parents gently steer you around while walking. On the other hand, attention is drawn to the person's surroundings, and maybe even a glimpse of a future: I know for now you only look ahead at sidewalks cracked & paved with trash but what are you slouching toward

Beeder frequently draws focus away from "Bighead," and towards the surroundings he's in. Maybe he's not there by bad decisions: maybe he was placed into this situation, and thinks he can go nowhere else. In fact, after repeated readings, the harsh and critical tone I heard the poem spoken in had morphed into a more soothing voice, even encouraging: though still with a healthy amount of criticsm. (After all, the words themselves are hardly courteous.) The lack of rhyme or meter enhances this, making the poem seem less like a poem and more like normal speech: the kind of things said with a hand over a friend's shoulder.

The poem sounds like an encouragement to start trying. The descriptions in the first section evoke someone perfectly content with their life as "the dummy paid to sweep out gutters," even if most people wouldn't be. While "effortless" may not carry the right connotations, the word itself certainly fits. "But what are you slouching toward?" the narrator asks. "Are you just going to remain here forever? Are you really happy with that? You can be so much more." An optimist might even be able to see this as a nod to all of humanity: "You can be so much more."