For Michael Had I But Known

For Michael
Had I But Known

Had I but known he did not come to stay,
That he was just a transient little guest
By heaven sent and thither shortly bound
How avidly his smallest small request
I should have heard, and its appeasement found.

If I had known he entered at my gate
Only to pause on his far homeward flight –
Sweet soul ordained to bear no taint of earth –
How I had schemed to make the hours more bright
And shield his dimpled hands from every hurt.

But I knew not. There are tomorrows yet,
I thought, to mend the playthings wrecked today.
Then, lo, a muffling silence stilled the noise
Of clamorous mirth, for he had gone his way
And left my heart like his poor broken toys.

William McHale