When I taught you
at eight to ride
a bicycle, loping along
beside you
as you wobbled away
on two round wheels,
my own mouth rounding
in surprise when you pulled
ahead down the curved
path of the park,
I kept waiting
for the thud
of your crash as I
sprinted to catch up,
while you grew
smaller, more breakable
with distance,
pumping, pumping
for your life, screaming
with laughter,
the hair flapping
behind you like a
handkerchief waving

Analysis, meaning and summary of Linda Pastan's poem To A Daughter Leaving Home


  1. nikita says:

    it could have been better .but it was nice

  2. saasoo says:

    i love this poem because it is related to our daily life when our parents become worried about us more than usual; but life will be okay and they should respect our life and our choices.

  3. roy says:

    thanks nice beutiful.

  4. Virginia says:

    To a Daughter Leaving Home is about parents having to let go. They teach their kids to be independent and when they finally are, parents want to be needed. They wait for their kids to crash and run back to them.

  5. rodger says:

    Simple,precise little poem comparing a daughter learning to ride a bike to leaving home and the mother`s feelings towards it. It portrays the mother`s feeling of trepidation watching her daughter go through life`s process.

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