teaching

This:

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

From Did I Miss Anything? Selected Poems 1973-1993, 1993
Harbour Publishing

Love,

Mrs. D

Our Little Life is Rounded With A Sleep

My back to school anxiety dreams have begun. I never had these dreams as a student, and in addition to putting up with people winking at me and saying, “Those who can’t do, teach!” I consider this ritual of August to be the worst part of my job. They seem to have begun a few weeks early this year, but I have the distinct feeling that I said that last year, so who knows.

I remember bits and pieces of my dreams most nights, although they slip through my fingers within a few hours of waking so that I can no longer articulate them. The images might have taken hold, but I lack the words to attach to those images.

So far during my sleeping hours this past week, I’ve been transferred to another school and nobody would tell me where I was supposed to go and what I was supposed to do, I showed up late on the first day of school, I got to work for the teacher inservice days and none of the people I know still worked in the building, and – my personal favorite – I showed up to teach my first day of school and my class was so out of control that one student stood up, unzipped his fly, and took a leak on the floor.

I haven’t had the big one yet. Old Reliable. The dream I have every year. The one that makes me wake up in a cold sweat. The one that seems so real that it takes me days to shake the feeling that I’ve totally blown it, or am about to.

Can you guess what it is?

Welcome to My Reality

Did I Miss Anything?

Tom Wayman

Love,

Mrs. D

Our Little Life is Rounded With A Sleep