"To A Daughter Leaving Home"~~~~~"Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins~~~~~"Dream of Fair Women"~~~~~"Crossing the Bar"~~~~~"Sorting Laundry"~~~~~"Siren Song"~~~~~"Curiosity"~~~~~"Mirror"~~~~~"Death of a Soldier"~~~~~"One Perfect Rose"~~~~~"A Constant Lover"~~~~~"A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning"~~~~~"Get Up and Bar the Door"~~~~~"Lover Is Not All: It Is Not Meat Nor Drink"~~~~~"Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?"

To A Daughter Leaving Home

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

goodbye.

Linda Pastan