I was attracted to this poem from the moment I read it. The eating of the blackberries just like writing poetry is a fascinating image. The descriptions are so rich and meaningful. The dark, cold blackberries are being consumed for breakfast in the late September. The richness of language is shown through the richness of eating blackberries.
"The ripest berries / fall almost unbidden to my tongue" - This particular image makes me think about the process of writing poetry, looking for the right words and expressions and suddenly the best words come to mind ("the ripest berries") and perfectly express the poetic emotion.
Kinnell uses the tangible objects to express the abstract. His process of squeezing, squinching open and splurging the blackberries is just like searching for the right word sounds, for the perfect combination of vowels and consonants in order to obtain a fuller tasting of the poetic experience. He nourishes the body with "eating blackberries" and he nourishes the art with writing the poetics.
