Don't you love it when students come late to school, or miss a class, and then ask you, "Did I miss anything?" How often I have been tempted to answer sarcastically. But this poem does a much better job than anything I could come up with.
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 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
Here's the rest. (It gets even better.)
And here is today's Poetry Friday roundup.
2 hours ago
10 comments:
Oh my. This is absolute perfection!
I've always loved that poem! Such a great one for teachers.
Oh wow. I love Poetry Friday this week - so many poems I can share with my teachers! =)
Oh, I have folks to share this with, too! Thank you for posting.
I've emailed a link to this to all our faculty. One has already replied "Great!" :-)
I laughed out loud at the last stanza you posted. This is classic.
Thanks for sharing this poem. I had not read it before. Tonight, I'm getting together with some good friends and I am anxious to read it to them as I know they will enjoy it as much as I do.
Thank you for all of your Friday poetry posts. They are always very interesting.
LOVE THIS! I used to teach high school, and I'm so sorry I didn't have it. It would have been good to tease the girls with. I'm going to post it on my sister's Facebook page, as she is now a teacher herself.
Stay safe in the tropical storm headed your way... Prayers coming, of course.
Thanks, Sarah. I'm just about to post about it.
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