The poem looks at a father at his daughter's wedding and, in a single moment, sees her whole life. The opening "That day she stood in poise" seems to describe her as a bride, composed and graceful. Then his mind drifts back to her babyhood: her first toothless smile caught on camera in the countryside, her small fingers smeared with paint and paper, the trail of tiny footprints through the house. These are ordinary memories, but the poem treats them as precious.
The turn comes near the end, when "all he had to" do was let her go into someone else's arms. The line is a little broken, which suggests how hard it is to say. His final words, "Flawless, my daughter," are spoken with a smile, but the poem leaves room to sense the ache underneath. The mood is tender and nostalgic, proud and bittersweet at once. The speaker feels joy for her, and also the quiet loss of a child who has grown up.