“In the back of the real” by Allen Ginsberg is a short poem of three stanzas and 24 lines, 25 including the title as a line. The book it is a part of, Howl, was written in 1955 (Wikipedia). Given the context it was written in, 1950s America (indicated by San Jose as a location in the poem), an industrial period of American history, the subject makes sense. The subject is “A flower”, and it is called the “flower of industry”, described as a “tough spikey ugly flower”. This could be a criticism of America’s increasing consumerism, or greed of businesses.

In terms of place, assuming the “railroad yard in San Jose” is referring to San Jose, CA, I can imagine the setting described. I see a hot train station, likely a combination of my experiences of train stations from various places, and my past of the heat of the South Bay Area. I can see a dead flower on the ground. However, the poem flower seems to be merely an “ugly flower”, that wants to be something better: “with the form of the great yellow Rose in your brain!”, which again, seems to show a feeling of disdain for American consumerism or business.

Sources: After finding info I was looking for on the publication date of Howl on Google, it listed the wikipedia page on Howl as the source.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl