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Did I Miss Anything -- Tom Wayman

       
(Poem #1940) Did I Miss Anything
                             Question frequently asked by
                             students after missing a class

 Nothing. When we realized you weren't here
 we sat with our hands folded on our desks
 in silence, for the full two hours

     Everything. I gave an exam worth
     40 per cent of the grade for this term
     and assigned some reading due today
     on which I'm about to hand out a quiz
     worth 50 per cent

 Nothing. None of the content of this course
 has value or meaning
 Take as many days off as you like:
 any activities we undertake as a class
 I assure you will not matter either to you or me
 and are without purpose

     Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
     a shaft of light descended and an angel
     or other heavenly being appeared
     and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
     to attain divine wisdom in this life and
     the hereafter
     This is the last time the class will meet
     before we disperse to bring this good news to all people on earth

 Nothing. When you are not present
 how could something significant occur?

     Everything. Contained in this classroom
     is a microcosm of human existence
     assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
     This is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered

     but it was one place

     And you weren't here
-- Tom Wayman
Being a teacher has its rewards, yes, but it has its frustrations too, as so
perfectly summed up by this marvellous poem. For sheer, undiluted annoyance,
"did I miss anything" has to rank up there with "will this be on the test?",
and Wayman surely speaks for every teacher, everywhere, when he replies with
this dryly sarcastic, amusing and yet heartfelt monologue.

And I love the power of the ending, where the tone changes, the flow of
words slowing and sarcasm giving way to deeper emotion, as the narrator has
one, final attempt at the possibly hopeless task of explaining just what the
student *did* miss...

     This is not the only place such an opportunity has been gathered

     but it was one place

     And you weren't here

martin

[Links]

Wayman's homepage [including biography and writing philosophy]:
  http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/wayman/index.html

83 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Priscilla Jebaraj said...

That was an absolutely neat poem! As a once-upon-a-time student, I can
appreciate it with a guilty, self-conscious pleasure. But a couple of years
ago, I also switched roles and taught junior high English and History for a
term. And I could have screamed every time a kid who slept through half the
class woke up to ask at the end of it, "Will this be on the test, miss?" or
every time someone breathlessly slid into his seat ten minutes after class
started and in a panting whisper asked asked his neighbour, "Did I miss
anything?" Wish I'd known this poem then!

Priscilla

Chrys said...

This poem, I believe you can totally relate to. :)
-Chrys Amy

Anonymous said...

what does it mean by the microcosm of human existence?

Thanks :)

Anonymous said...

I think this might be a metaphor for life. What do you think? You know, don't miss out on important things in life.

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หนังโป๊ออนไลน์ said...

I remember when I said the same words as in the poem to my wife when we was boyfriends in the college, I read this poem for the first time 10 years ago in my house.

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Elizabeth said...

Great poem. I've read it before but had forgotten it, so I was glad to be reminded. As a teacher, I feel so bittersweet when I miss a class for even the very best of reasons - the flu, a field trip with another class, a workshop to improve my practice. I think I always kind of wonder if the day I miss will be the day that a metaphorical heavenly shaft of light will descend. And I wasn't there.

p.s. You seem to have quite a problem with comment spam. You might want to put in some kind of filter for that...

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It is the most common question that I make. I hope that I can do it more often. ;)

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