The poem is straying from expected behaviour (form and grammar), just as the women in the poem are. The use of alliteration with the consonant "s", at the beginning of words such as "Scrubbing, scouring"; "Steering screaming"; and "stabbing" in the third and most fast moving section of the poem, are an excellent use of onomatopoia. The discordant sounds in the jarring juxtaposition of harsh letters and syllables have the desired effect of manifesting shock to the reader, both when visualising what has been read, and also the sound and difficulty in the actual reading of the poem. The lack of consistent rhyme scheme; the uneven division of " stanza", and the use of sporadic metre, all contribute to the sense of erratic ranting, which at the same time is providing an informative insight into the whirl of activity of a woman's everyday life. This poem as a whole also makes use of the device of enjambment, in the third section. The effect of this on the reader is that it makes us run onto the next line of the poem without the grammatical pauses we are accustomed to when reading, and becomes very difficult to read rhythmatically. This technique is useful in this section of the poem, as it serves to bombard the reader with the endless things the women have to do throughout the course of their day, the list, in effect, echoes the rush of actions that are being described. Perhaps one of the more remarkable enjambment uses can be found in lines twelve and thirteen: "While safe at home, the tender and the gentle/Are killing tiny mice, dead snap by the neck," the italics represent the run on of the lines, and the fact that the description of the words tender and gentle are followed by such an aggressive line, proves to be a double shock for the reader, both in terms of the content, as well as the grammar.
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The content is a rebellious poem against the way women are portrayed, but should perhaps be regarded as a tongue in cheek approach as it was written by Elma Mitchell who also happens to be of the same "species" whose womb can "pocket a man upside down"(line 31).
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