The Speaker
The poem “Long Distance Ii” is narrated by a first-person-speaker. The speaker does not say much about himself, other than that his mother has died two years ago and the father is still denying her death, expecting her to return at some point. The speaker shows sympathy for his father and does not judge his way of grieving, though he claims to follow the philosophy that “life ends with death” (l. 13), thus does not share the belief that his mother will ever return. This ostensive belief has made it difficult for the father to have contact with the speaker (whose disbelief would shatter the father’s delusion) and it is implied that they do not have contact.
In the last stanza however, the speaker reveals that he is guilty of the same denial his father is, though not in regards to the death of his mother, but of a different unnamed loved one. This might be the reason why the speaker understands his father. However, the speaker does not want to share this information with his father either, both opting to keep it a secret.
"You"
The speaker addresses an unspecified “you” throughout the poem. While the first three stanzas imply that he uses a general you or is addressing the reader, the last stanza makes it clear that he is talking to an actual character.
This character has died as well (as is revealed in line 14, when the speaker confirms that both the mother and “you” have died) and is greatly missed by the speaker, who continues to call the disconnected phone.
While this character’s identity is not revealed, the speaker describes the ritual of “you” visiting his father who unsuccessfully kept up the façade of having accepted his wife’s death, indicating that “you” was able to see behind the father’s behavior and reported it back to the speaker.
The fact that the speaker seems to remember “you” mainly through phone calls makes a partner or spouse unlikely, but the closeness between them (as well as the inclusion of the father) indicates another family member.
"You" served as a bridge between the father and the speaker and it is possible that the speaker is missing this connection to the father as much as the person, which is why he is mirroring his father's grieving behavior.
The Father
The speaker’s father was widowed two years before. While he seems aware that his behavior is unusual or might even be ashamed of it, he is unable to let go of his dead wife and keeps the firm belief that she will return, keeping everything of hers updated and in place.
This goes so far that the father keeps out the speaker and may have even cut contact entirely, in fear that the speaker’s professed realism will destroy his delusion.
