A man is walking as the day moves toward twilight when he notices his son kissing a young woman. The moment makes him feel old: his child has entered adult love, and he can almost sense a grandfather waking up inside him. The feeling is bittersweet, a small jolt of time passing. Then, just two minutes later, his mother phones and asks, “How are you, my son?” With that single question, the speaker becomes a child again. The poem shows how quickly we move between generations—father to future grandfather, son to small boy—depending on who is loving us. The twilight setting echoes this in-between state, neither fully day nor night. The mood is tender, intimate, and lightly melancholic, but the mother’s voice brings comfort and warmth.
Grandfather and Child — Summary
When the day took me for a walk towards the twilight, I saw my son sowing a kiss on a young lady’s lips. I felt old. As if by magic, a grandfather grew within me.
After two minutes’ walk, my mother phoned, ‘How are you my son’, she asked; and I felt young again, like a child.