Originally Carol Ann Duffy

'we came from our own country in a red room'

The word choice of 'we' and 'our' suggests that the journey was a shared experience; the move has affected them all. The assonance of the phrase 'our own' highlights that a sense of belonging to one place. The metaphorical phrase 'red room' is suggestive of childhood. The family car is described as 'red' which has connotations of danger and anger. This may suggest how the speaker was feeling about the move from one country to another.

'which fell through fields'

The word choice of 'fell' has connotations of tumbling quickly. This suggests that the speaker felt a lack of control as she is leaving everything she has ever known to live somewhere else.

'our mother singing // our father's name to the turn of the wheels.'

Mother is optimistic about the move, which is a clear contrast to how Duffy feels. The word choice of 'father' is ambiguous. The reader does not know if Duffy's father is with them on the journey, or if he is already at the new place. The word Father also has religious connotations. Duffy's mother may be praying to God that the move works out well for them all.

'My brother cried, one of them bawling'

The word choice of 'bawling' suggests intense, inconsolable crying. This suggests that her brother was extremely distressed by the move.

'Home // home'

The repetition of the word 'home' reveals how desperate the siblings were to return to their familiar surroundings. The repetition also has connotations of childhood as it is a childhood habit to repeat words to express a desire.

'the miles rushed back to the city'

Duffy uses personification to reveal her own desire to return to home. The word choice of 'miles' emphasises how far in distance they have travelled from Glasgow.

'the street, the house, the vacant rooms // where we did not live anymore'

List. Duffy uses a specific list that details her realisation that she is moving away. The reality of the journey has hit her and she realises that her home is no longer a home, it is just an empty house far away.

'I stared // at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw.'

Word choice of 'blind' has connotations of not being able to see or being in the dark. This suggests that Duffy was venturing into the unknown where everything was disorientating and strange. 'holding it's paw' - childhood. Holding the paw of a stuffed toy for comfort and reassurance.

"All childhood is an emigration"

The metaphor suggests that just as you have to leave one country behind in order to live in another, so too childhood and growing up involves leaving things behind us.

However, for children who do not usually control these decisions, this can cause uncertainty and anxiety.

Suggests changes in life/magnitude of change as we grow towards adult-hood - continuous departure from one moment, age, level of maturity to another.

'Others are sudden. Your accent wrong.'

Short abrupt sentences shows how sudden the changes were. Accents serve as another barrier to being isolated, despite speaking the same language.

'big boys // eating worms and shouting words you don't understand'

Confronted by behaviour and language that's alien to her. Plosive B of "big boys" shows she finds them threatening which emphasises her youth / childhood.

'my parents' anxiety stirred like a loose tooth'

Simile - shows her parents are worried about them not settling in. Just as a loose tooth constantly irritates someone, so too are the parents' anxiety too strong to ignore.

'I remember my tongue // shedding its skin like a snake'

Simile - she is finally adopting to a new home. Just as a snake sheds its skin naturally and with ease, so too has Duffy's accent changed easily and in a short space of time.

'Where do you come from?// strangers ask. Originally? And I hesitate.'

In the final lines of the poem, Duffy struggles to define her identity and acknowledges that she has changed since she was young. There are now lots of different things and places that make up her identity. She decides that identity is multifaceted.

'a skelf of shame'

Use of Scots dialect reveals she still feels attached to her Scottish roots. 'Skelf' means a small bit, and this shows that she is staring to adjust now too, even though she still has connections to her Scottish heritage.

'Do I only think // I lost a river, a culture, speech, sense of first space, // and the right place?

Rhetorical question - Duffy questions what makes up a person's sense of identity and she can't decide. She lists some of the things she left behind and wonders if these things influence who she is now. She refers to the River Clyde, an important geographical space in Glasgow as well as Scottish culture and dialect.

'Unimagined'

Sense of disorientation. inability to negotiate her way successfully through this new, strange and unfamiliar landscape.