Blackberry Picking

One of the most poignant lessons of “Blackberry Picking” involves the awareness of mortality, or the natural cycle of life and death. As a child, the speaker was inclined to think his world would last forever; while growth is an accepted part of life, degeneration is not.

The blackberries themselves are shown in their complete lifecycle, moving from “red, green, hard as a knot” (Line 4) to “sweet / Like thickened wine” (Lines 5-6) and “big dark blobs” (Line 14). This moment presents the berries at their prime. However, the following stanza shows the beginning of decay: “Once off the bush / The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour” (Lines 20-21). This process of breaking down began immediately after picking, much like the body enters its state of inevitable mortality immediately after emerging from the womb. And yet, one cannot fully appreciate the blackberries until they pick and taste them; likewise, one cannot truly appreciate life without the mortality that comes with it.

Toward the ending, the speaker recalls his childhood reckoning: “I always felt like crying. It wasn’t fair” (Line 22). This keyword “always” shows that this encounter with decay wasn’t his first such experience, and each time brought the same disappointment.