If I Had Known
If I had known what trouble you were bearing;
What griefs were in the silence of your face;
I would have been more gentle, and more caring,
And tried to give you gladness for a space.
I would have brought more warmth into the place,
If I had known.
If I had known what throughts despairing drew you;
(Why do we never try to understand?)
I would have lent a little friendship to yoiu,
And slipped my hand within your hand,
And made your stay more pleasant in the land,
If I had known.
-Mary Carolyn Davies
from the book: Best Loved Poems of the American People