Blackberries

Blackberries are the central guiding thread of the poem. They represent a reward from the natural world, but also a moment in time. Through the process of blackberry picking, the speaker connects with generations that have gone before and that are still to come. In this way they become a sort of heirloom practice passed down through a family of women. The speaker notes that some of the berries are left to support other animals; this shows how the berries are also used to teach valuable lessons to the next generation.

Hands

Hands appear numerous times throughout the poem as the speaker examines their own, their mother’s, and now the young woman’s whom she is addressing. While the hands are “temporary” (Line 23), they’re also timeless and immortal. They illustrate the speaker’s age and the passage of time, but also the potential for...