After Making Love We Hear Footsteps Analysis

While the child lacks intimate interactions with his father in “Those Winter Sundays,” the speaker in Kinnell’s “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps,” conveys how comfortable his son, Fergus, is when interacting with him. The speaker begins by telling us about his son’s habit of waking up, not when loud sounds are produced, but when he hears the noises his parents make while making love. He describes that his son “will wrench himself awake / / and make for it on the run,” (8-9) in his haste to get to their bedroom. Fergus eagerly seeking out his father displays the affection he carries for his dad. When he makes it to his parent’s bedroom, he asks to join them in their snuggling, flops right down between them and “hugs [them]” (17). The effortless