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 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

Tom Wayman, Did I Miss Anything: Selected Poems 1973-1993 (Harbour Publishing, 1993)