Did I Miss Anything?

Tom Wayman

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 percent of the grade for this term
     and assigned some reading due today
     on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
     worth 50 percent

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 suddenly 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 the 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 experience
     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

Reaction- My first reaction to the poem was that it was really funny. When students miss a day of school they always ask their teacher what they missed. Usually, the teacher will provide the student with the work that he or she missed, but sometimes the teacher will make a witty remark. This poem reminds me of the teachers who like to be witty and not give their students a definite answer of what they missed.

Meaning- I believe the poem means that things always occur in class whether a student is absent or not. In the first, third, and fifth stanzas, the poet talks about how the class just sat there and folded their hands when they realized that certain student wasn't there. Sometimes it seems that students think the whole class stops their work because they aren't present during the class period. In the even number stanzas, the poet says how the student missed everything and the class took an important exam and did many activities. I think the reasoning behind this poem is that "Did I Miss Anything?" is a rhetorical question, because 99% of the time a student always misses something when they're absent.

Technique- This poem is written in the form of four stanzas. The author of the poem also uses run on sentences and little punctuation. Every other stanza is also indented.