The poems – ‘Meditation at Lagunitas’ and ‘Picking Blackberries with a Friend who has been Reading Jacques Lacan’ – are from Robert Hass’ collection of poems ‘Praise’ that was first published in 1981. Both poems, written by the same author, have several differences in style, meaning and effect. Yet, there is one similarity in both the poems, and that is the sense of nostalgia that they evoke.
In the poem Meditation at Lagunitas, the speaker remembers an intimate time spent with a woman. It seems that the speaker is reminiscing about an entire evening as he speaks of dinner, how the woman broke bread, spoke about her father and their intimacy later. The poem ‘Picking Blackberries with a friend’ is the account of an afternoon the speaker spent with an old friend. It is probable that the two have read Jacques Lacan and regularly discuss it as the speaker mentions that he or she feels nice not to be talking about ‘subject and object’.
There is a sense of loss in ‘Meditation’, the speaker sounds sorrowful when he remembers his lost love. The manner in which it is described, the poem speaks not only of one specific relationship, but every close relationship that cannot be replaced. The poem deals with the sense of emptiness and feeling sorrowful even when the scenario around the speaker is joyful. In this poem, the speaker is in the North Californian town of Lagunista and is surrounded by a forest.
On the other hand, ‘Picking blackberries with a friend’ is not about loss but about finding – finding a long lost friend. The speaker mentions that, his friend feels how he did twenty years ago and is exclaiming. There is no trace of sorrow in this poem. The speaker says that Charlie, his or friend is ‘laughing wonderfully’ . The speaker feels a broken bond being rebuilt, a relationship being remade. The scenario in this poem is also different. Instead of a forest as in ‘Meditation’, the speaker and his or her friend are in a berry field during the time of drought. Despite the heat and the drought or the barrenness that surrounds them, the speaker and his or her friend are happy.
In ‘Meditation’, the sense of loss that the speaker feels leads to an ardent desire for the woman that he or she has lost. The speaker describes it as a ‘thirst for salt’ or a thirst that cannot be quenched. It signifies the sense of regret that one feels when something precious is lost and cannot be found again. However, in ‘Picking blackberries with a friend’, the friends, despite the drought, are surrounded by ripe berries that they are picking. The friend’s beard has been stained purple with juice. There is no ‘thirst’ here, no talk of desire. Hence, while ‘Meditation’ presents a picture of discontent, ‘Picking blackberries with a friend’ is all about satisfaction.
Bibliography
Cameron, Josephine. Picking Blackberries with a Friend who has read Jacques lacan. 9 July 2007. 17 May 2012
