Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman

Did I Miss Anything?

by Tom Wayman

(published in Poetry 180, edited by Billy Collins, 2003, Random House)

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 y...