A Supermarket in California

"Howl" by Allen Ginsberg (1956)

Published alongside “A Supermarket in California” in Howl and Other Poems, “Howl” is one of Ginsberg’s most well-known works. The poem put Ginsberg on the map and made him one of the most well-known faces of the Beat Movement, as “Howl” was embraced favorably almost immediately upon Ginsberg’s first reading of the work at Six Gallery, becoming part of the movement’s canon.

"Kaddish" by Allen Ginsberg (1959)

Considered to be another one of Ginsberg’s most successful poems, “Kaddish” is an elegy dedicated to his mother, Naomi. The title refers to the mourner’s prayer or “The Mourners’ Kaddish” in Judaism, typically recited in the mornings and at funerals and memorial services. Many poets and scholars consider this work alongside “Howl” to be Ginsberg’s greatest contribution to the genre.

"Ode to Walt Whitman" by Federico Garcia Lorca (1929)

Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who is mentioned in “A Supermarket in California,” wrote his own ode to Walt Whitman. Much like Ginsberg, Lorca uses his ode to Whitman as a lens with which to provide a critique of American society.

"I Sing the Body Electric" by Walt Whitman (1855)