railroad yard in San Jose
I wandered desolate
in front of a tank factory
and sat on a bench
near the switchman’s shack.

A flower lay on the hay on
the asphalt highway
–the dread hay flower
I thought–It had a
brittle black stem and
corolla of yellowish dirty
spikes like Jesus’ inchlong
crown, and a soiled
dry center cotton tuft
like a used shaving brush
that’s been lying under
the garage for a year.

Yellow, yellow flower, and
flower of industry,
tough spiky ugly flower,
flower nonetheless,
with the form of the great yellow
Rose in your brain!
This is the flower of the World.

San Jose, 1954

Analysis, meaning and summary of Allen Ginsberg's poem In Back Of The Real

1 Comment

  1. Cristian Romero says:

    This poem is very heart moving. It struck me how much little things can matter. I think that little things are very important. One little thing is eating and drinking in class. I will never do it again.

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