In the first stanza, we see that the father of the child cannot let go of the fact that his wife is dead. This is shown through the actions of the father as he “kept her slippers warming by the gas” and “put hot water bottles her side of the bed”. It is like the father is expecting the wife to return at some point, so he does all of these things so that, if she ever does come back, he would have everything ready for her. The fact that the speaker was a child at this time; it seems like the child had to take care of their father, rather than the other way around. Because the child is too young to understand and hasn’t known their mother for as long as the father has, they are not as fazed by the loss of their mother as the father is. The actions of the father are almost psychopathic as he doesn’t just miss his wife, but he believes that she will come back some day.

In the second stanza, we understand that the father is ashamed that he cannot let go of the loss of his wife. Harrison writes “…to clear away her things and look alone as though his still raw love were such a crime.” This shows that the father doesn’t want anyone to know that he can’t get over the loss of his wife, so he hides “her things” to appear as though he actually is over her loss. The phrase “her things” shows that the father is a very sentimental person and this contrasts with the line “he’d put you off an hour” to show that he has kept many of his wife’s belongings, as it takes an hour to hide them all away. Harrison writes “as though his still raw love were such a crime.” which brings out a protective tone in the speaker. Harrison repeats the word “still” throughout the poem, which has multiple connotations as it could be referring to the ‘still’ body of the wife, but could also be referring to the father and how he ‘still’ believes that his wife will return to him and his child.

In the third stanza, Harrison writes “He couldn’t risk my blight of disbelief” which shows that the father doesn’t want his child to end up like him. The father and the child are both taking care of each other. The father knows that his wife is dead, yet he strongly believes that there is a chance that she could return at any moment. Harrison writes “he’d hear the key… and end his grief… she’d just popped out to get the tea.” The father is convincing himself that the wife is not dead and that she will return and end his sorrow. The tone that the speaker has is very slow and understanding in a sense that the speaker knows and understands what their father is suffering from.

The final stanza changes in chronology from the past to when the speaker was a child, to the present where the speaker is now older. Harrison writes “I believe life ends with death, and that is all. You haven’t both gone shopping…” We understand that the speaker’s father has also died, but the speaker seems to be convincing themselves that they won’t come back and that he will not end up the same way that his father did. However, the speaker “still calls” the disconnected phone number, so the actions of the father are reflected in the actions of the speaker.

The nature of loss is presented in this poem through the actions and behaviour of the father and the child and how they react to the loss of their loved ones. There is a strong sense of disbelief and the idea that there is still a chance that the ones who have died will somehow return at some point in their lives.