Did I Miss Anything?

… is a ques­ti­on fre­quent­ly asked by stu­dents after miss­ing a class. Here is a poem by the Cana­di­an poet Tom Way­man:

Did I Miss Anything

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