Question

Read this excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California." I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator. Why does Ginsberg make an allusion to Walt Whitman in this excerpt?

Answer 1

To suggest a familiarity and kinship with Walt Whitman and other outcasts.

Answer 2

I would say Ginsberg makes an allusion to Walt Whitman in this excerpt to suggest a familiarity and kinship with Walt Whitman and other outcasts.
As you can see in the poem, Whitman is all alone, wandering around the supermarket, searching for a soul mate. He asks the poet, 'Are you my angel?' suggesting that he has no one else around him, which is something the poet can relate to.