Longing for the Past
In her poems like "The Bargain" and "View of Scotland/Love Poem" Lochhead targets this immense longing for the past. It's a nuanced desire, which encompasses many ideas at once. For instance, in "The Bargain" the narrator continually expresses a desire for closure. She wants to see her relationship fixed, to be returned to its previous state, when just a glance was enough to satisfy one another. After a full day of adventures, however, she observes the awkward lull in the conversation and remembers how rare this sort of happy day has become for her and her lover.
On a different note, "View of Scotland/Love Poem" resides in the space right between nostalgia and tradition. Lochhead recalls the beautiful traditions of Scottish culture around New Year's. Her own mother had sweet little rituals to prepare for the holiday. Lochhead intones the poem with nostalgia, in a deep recollection of the treasure that are those memories.
Suffering As Inspiration
As a poet, Lochhead looks to her own life experiences for inspiration. In her poems, these life events, whether ordinary or extraordinary take on new life. They become the canvas of storytelling. In "Hell for Poets" Lochhead offers her readers some small insight into the struggles of the poet life. Her experiences on publication tours have left her continually stumped. This one particular trip is marked by a series of uncomfortable and downright frustrating experiences, where everything seems to go just the wrong way, but Lochhead walks away from it with this poem "Hell for Poets" in which she explains how the most miserable of experiences provide the best inspiration for her writing. The suffering is the fuel which ignites good poetry.
Anticipation
Another theme in Lochhead's poetry is anticipation. She's continually writing about the future -- expectations, fears, hopes, etc. In "The Bargain" this anticipation takes the form of the new year, like in "View of Scotland/Love Poem." This time, however, the looking forward is married with retroaction. The author desires to see her future mirror her past, when she felt happier in her relationships. Similarly, "Hell for Poets" demonstrates an anticipation of future writing. Lochhead has only just experienced this awful tour and she's concluded how it will fuel poems to come.
