Use of 1st person perspective immediately highlights the personal element of this poem, this is specifically about the relationship between Duffy and her mother creating a sense of delicacy and vulnerability
"Under the shallows of my breath"
Shallow breathing often associated with feelings of anxiety or tension, so this could be showing how Duffy finds comfort in her mothers familiar phrases
"Tooblue swapped for a coolgrey"
Blue has connotations of sadness or depression, whereas a blue sky is a good thing, and has connotations of being sunny and happy - the confliction between the two connotations of the same word could symbolise the conflicting feelings of Duffy as she tries to discover her own thoughts and feelings
"Nothing is silent. Nothing is notsilent."
The double negative used here implies that even your memories, past, childhood etc still has an impact on your life and stays with you well into adulthood
"I am happy and sad"
Oxymoron to show Duffy's confusing emotions, literally stating that she feels two opposite feelings at the same time - she is sad to be leaving her mother/childhood but positive about what the future holds for her (represents shift from childhood to adulthood)
"I am homesick,free, in love with the way my mother speaks"
- This line unites some contradictions from the poem - she is "homesick" for her childhood/familiar memories, but "free" to explore being an adult and establish her own identity
