A child recalls the night Gram accidentally shot Daddy, mistaking him for a bear. The poem is told in a plain, chatty voice, as if the speaker has repeated the story many times. Gram couldn't sleep, the hens were loud, she took her gun and went out. Each step sounds ordinary, even routine, which makes the ending hit harder.
The speaker never says how she feels, and that's the point. The line "Gram could see in the dark" is repeated almost like a family boast, yet it's the very thing the night proves false. The speaker seems to cling to Gram's stories and sayings rather than face the loss directly. The final image is stark: two sisters in nightdresses, Gram holding the gun, Daddy on the ground. The mood is quiet, eerie, and numb, a shock told in a calm voice. The calm itself suggests grief that has no words.