Allen Ginsberg in Mexico
Cambridge University Press eBooks March 27, 2026 David Stephen Calonne
This chapter examines how Mexico shaped Allen Ginsberg's poetic development. Inspired by William S. Burroughs, Ginsberg visited archaeological sites like Palenque, inspiring his poem "Siesta in Xbalba." He traveled widely in Mexico, continuing a mystical quest begun with a 1948 "cosmic consciousness" experience while reading William Blake. In poems such as "Paterson," Ginsberg wrote he "would rather go mad, gone down the dark road to Mexico, heroin dripping/in my veins,/eyes and ears full of marijuana, /eating the god Peyote…" than endure life in America. His poems and journals show Mexico's profound effect on his life and work.