"A Supermarket in California"

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for

I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache

self-conscious looking at the full moon.

In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went

into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!

What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families

shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the

avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what

were you doing down by the watermelons?



I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,

poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery

boys.

I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the

pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?

I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans

following you, and followed in my imagination by the store

detective.

We strode down the open corridors together in our

solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen

delicacy, and never passing the cashier.



Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in

an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?

(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the

supermarket and feel absurd.)

Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The

trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be

lonely.



Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love

past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?

Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher,

what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and

you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat

disappear on the black waters of Lethe?

~Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg was born in New York in 1926 where he attended Columbia University. He had an interesting home life as a child. His

mother was a supporter of the Communist as well as a nudist with shaky mental health. He was a big fan of Walt Whitman and Edgar

Allen Poe as a child and young adult. In college he was friends with people who were a part of the beat movement. Around this time he

to have a new vision. He also had a "auditory vision" of William Blake reading some of his poems. He received much acclaim and

awards for his work, that includes the poem Howl. He died from complications of Hepatitis on April 5, 1997.

In this poem, Allen Ginsberg is comparing himself to his childhood idol, Walt Whitman. Ginsberg draws on aspects of Whitman's life and poetry. He compares the view that Whitman had of what America should be and what it actually is. What makes this poem interesting is the concept of seeing Whitman in a supermarket and getting his point across this way.

*Disclaimer: I used an article to help me find out what exactly Ginsberg was trying to do get across with his poem. I knew that Whitman was his was one of his favorite poets during his childhood. I used the following article to find out that Ginsberg was comparing Whitman's ideal view of America and what it actually has become.

Miller, Tyrus. "Critical Essay on 'A Supermarket in California'." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Clemson University. 22 July 2009 .