The way my mother speaks quotes and analysis

• " I say her phrases to myself in my head" - speaker thinks of her mother, showing close bond that brings her comfort. Signifies the idea that her mother is an integral part of her identity.
• "under the shallows of my breath" - breathing suggests anxiety and need for reassurance. Suggests her mothers words are comforting as they calm her anxieties.
• "restful shapes moving" - word choice, paradox - "restful" and "moving" contradict - shows the confusion of the speaker as the train makes everything seem still and calm
• "the day and ever" - repetition - word ever shows significance of journey that will last her whole life, and how everlasting her relationship with her mother is.
• "slow evening" - connotations of sluggish, leisurely, and long winded. Shows that speaker views the journey is long and unhurried
• "browsing for the right sky" - searching, looking, pursuing - symbolic of speaker looking for a place that is right for her.
• "too blue swapped for a cool grey" - "too blue" connotes calm like a sky during summer, "cool grey" connotes lack of happiness - shows uncertainty about future
• "for miles" - emphasises distance travelled
• "what like is it?" - shows effect her mother had on her
• "the way i say things when i think" - inner voice is closely intertwined with her mothers - still in her thought process
• "nothing is silent. nothing is not silent" - repetition of "nothing" - double negative shows that what does not exist in the moment has a voice in your head and has an influence.
• "only tonight" - singular experience - once in a lifetime journey
• "I am happy and sad like a child" - contrast - sad to be leaving mother behind, however positive as to what the future may hold
• "end of summer" - transition between childhood and adulthood - childhood innocence is ending
• "green erotic pond" - green connotes naivety, whereas erotic has adult themes, creates contradiction
• "I am homesick, free" - juxtaposition, shows she still longs for her past but feels free to establish her new identity