Carol Ann Duffy uses many language techniques in order to convey her thoughts about her mother's life. She progresses the poem by including the part of her mother's life where Duffy had been born. "…possessive yell…" is the reference to a baby wanting their mother, and the word 'possessive' shows that the baby has now taken over the mother's life. This is proved later on when Duffy says "…my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics…". This quote tells us that Duffy's mother now has a child, therefore her shoes have gone out of fashion and old. This is because in those days a mother's role was to stay at home with her children, which meant that Duffy's mother couldn’t go out and dance in those red high-heeled shoes like she used to before she had her child. This again brings us back to the point that when Carol Ann Duffy was born, she took over her mother's life.
Duffy then shows us the way her mother uses to be. "…and now your ghost clatters towards me…till I see you, clear as scent…". The word 'ghost' shows us that it's a memory of her mum's life, which is still very clear in her mind and linked with her emotions and senses because she could still 'see as clear as scent'. Also, Duffy mixes up her senses when she says 'see as clear as scent' because she uses the description of one scent to describe her feelings for another different scent. This is called synaesthesia, and it emphasizes with her mixing up of tenses as well as senses. She mixes up the past with the present because she shows her mother's responsible character and then suddenly brings us back to the time when her mother was rebellious; "Whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart?"
The title is ironic because it should normally associate the baby with the mother, not the mother with the baby. This emphasizes that when Duffy was born, she had a lot of effect on her mother and changed her life around a lot, as shown earlier. Carol Ann Duffy keeps emphasizing throughout the poem that her mother will always have a rebellious aspect of nature. This is shown when Duffy mixes up the past with the present, and says "Whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart?". Even after her mother got a child, Duffy uses this quote to claim that her mother still has a part of her rebellious nature from her past, which will stay with her for life, even though she sacrificed her rebellious behaviour when she got a child.
Duffy starts and ends the poem with the image of a pavement, which means that the poem is cyclical. "…and shriek at the pavement…the wrong pavement…". The imagery of the pavement in the beginning and the end of the poem are negative. This could mean that her mother's rebellious character will never end, which emphasizes that Duffy's love for her mother also never end no matter what her mother's like.
