Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 8-9
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots
- The lust question gets answered pretty quickly. They're only after the berries.
- The "you" mentioned near the beginning has now turned into "us."
- Line 8 means that seeing the very nearly ripe ones gets them psyched to go picking because they know the time is right and that these berries will be ripe soon.
- They go out with any container that will hold the berries – way to recycle!
Line 10
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
- They're going off the beaten path for these berries, even hunting around thorn bushes.
- The wet grass might be from the rain we learned about in the first line or perhaps it's dewy and early in the morning. Either way, their boots are getting a little wet.