It has been rightly said that the only truth of life is death. It is very difficult for anyone to accept the fact that his loved one is no more. It is impossible to imagine a life without the people we love mainly because we cannot bear the pain of being separated from them. Long Distance II is one such sad poem where Harrison says that though he has accepted the fact that his father is no longer with him , still he cannot take out his father’s memories from his head.
When his mother died, Harrison’s father too was in such a state of shock that, he thought that someday she will come back to him no matter what the current situation is. His father was so obsessed with his mother that even after her death he put hot water on her bed side and even renewed her transport pass. When he says “Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas,put hot water bottles beside her bed, and still went to renew her transport pass, you couldn’t just drop in. You had to phone.” He describes how disheartened a man can become when he is separated from the love of his life.
Death is an essential part of life but not everyone is capable of accepting this harsh reality of life. The poet is aware of the fact that he has to accept the fact his parents no longer exist but it will take time. The poem is the cry of all the individuals who lose their parents and have to accept the fact that they have to live the rest of their lives without them.
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The poet also has the number of his father recorded in his address book which is now useless. He is repeating the behavior of his father who also lived his life believing that his wife is still alive. Though his father believed that his wife would come back, but the poet is aware of the fact that his parents will not come back.
The poem is an ironic piece and explains how the loss of a loved one can result in the lost of an individual’s peace of mind even though he is surrounded by his family and friends. It is the feeling of standing in a crowd and still feeling alone. The earlier one understands that death is an essential part of life, the better his or her life becomes.
The poet says that we should learn to live without the people we love and if we start detaching ourselves from these people at an early age, we soon become capable of coming at par with the pain that death offers. Though the poem is short but it has a deep hidden message and meaning. Accepting death as a bitter truth which is essential for one and all.