America and In the Baggage Room at Greyhound

The first poem I read was America, by Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg states his clear opinion in the first line of the poem, saying,"America I've given you all and now I'm nothing" (page 39). He doesn't really beat around the bush or leave any mystery to what his exact feelings are in this poem. The poem expresses loud and clear Ginsberg's disdain for the United States of America.

Ginsberg makes constant references that allude to America thinking of itself as a perfect nation with no flaws. He says America made him want to be a "saint" (page 39). He also talks how America feels like it is superior to other nations in the world, when Ginsberg is still asking when America will be angelic. He also makes allusions to the millions of underprivileged souls out in the world who America is more or less ignoring. Ginsberg makes it clear that America is a flawed place, although it does its best to try to market itself as a perfect nation.

Ginsberg makes another interesting point when he says, "I won't say the Lord's Prayer" (page 40). Although the government officially observes a separation of church and state, the lines between the two become blurry when real life sets in. In America, today, it seems like every major politician of importance supports the Christian faith in some way. Some may really believe in the religion, but others use it simply for political gain. Ginsberg here refuses to just say the Lord's Prayer to sound like a "good, patriotic American."

Ginsberg ends the poem by speaking as the stereotypical American public. He blames all problems on "them Russians" and "them Chinamen" (page 42). The saying of Chinamen alone represents the ignorance employed by many Americans when it comes to other cultures. But Ginsberg goes on, talking about Indians and Communists as well. By showing America's attitude like this in a no hold bars way, Ginsberg really gets his point across well.

Just as I was getting confident after understanding America fairly well, I read the next poem, In the Baggage Room at Greyhound, and ended up fairly confused after my initial reading. Ginsberg starts off this poem as the speaker describes himself sitting in the baggage room at a greyhound station wondering about "eternity" (page 44). He then speaks about a multitude of different people from across the nation, all suffering in some way. Perhaps he was trying to envision the people whose baggage he was handling, and thinking about their lives and those connected to them. My best guess is that he somehow feels connected to them all while he handles their baggage.

He goes on to speak about the operating clerk, Spade, and about the vast amounts of luggage piled up on the large wooden racks. It almost seems like the speaker is amazed at his and Spade's ability to affect others' lives. He even refers to Spade as an angel at one point, conveying an almost supernatural sense. Ginsberg writes that with the racks, the workers are connected with people who have come from Japan, Mexico, and even Hawaii.

After this revelation of sorts, the speaker's thoughts figuratively come back down to where he is. He realizes he is paid next to nothing for his job, suffers physically for it, and becomes pessimistic about it all. He goes from the extreme of thinking of himself as connected with the world all the way to the other extreme of being a struggling minimum wage worker.