Love Between a Parent and Child in After Making Love We Hear Footsteps

Love Between a Parent and Child in After Making Love We Hear Footsteps

There are several different definitions for the word love. Love is a simple four-letter word, with a multitude of caring and feeling behind it. There is a difference between loving somebody and being in love with somebody. The love between two best friends or between a husband and wife are the types of love that people want to last forever. However, there are no guarantees that it will last forever. Furthermore, the love between family members and the love between a parent and child is the kind of love that will last a life time.

In Galway Kinnell’s poem “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps” Kinnell writes about the love between a parent and child. Galway Kinnell describes the familiar middle of the night act of a child climbing into bed with the parents. The poem begins with the father describing that no matter how much noise is being made, the child is able to sleep through anything. For example, Galway Kinnell states:

or play loud music

or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman

and Fergus will only sink deeper

into his dreamless sleep, which goes by all in one flash,

However, let there be a slight sound from the parents when they want to be alone and the child wakes up instantly. For example, Galway Kinnell writes in his poem:

but let there be that heavy breathing

or a stifled come-cry anywhere in the house

and he will wrench himself awake

Being a parent has many responsibilities. Parents have to give up a lot of their own privacy and time when it comes to their children. For example, starting on line sixteen, Galway Kinnell writes:

after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bod...

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...will never die. There may be some times in the child’s life when they think that their parents do not love them. Some families end up not speaking to each other for a long period of time. It could last a couple of days, a couple of weeks, or even a couple of years. No matter how long it takes, the child will always know that they can count on their mother and father loving them forever. The parents will always be there for their children. The children can always rely on the parents for support and complete understanding through the good times and the bad times.

Unlike other love relationships, the love relationship between a parent and child will never fade away. There are no guarantees with normal relationships lasting forever. However, the relationship between a parent and child is guaranteed to last forever. They will love each until the day they die.