Day 2

Enjoy Pi Day

"...one ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." -Goethe

A song for Pi Day: Miles Davis "Circle" from the 1967 Miles Smiles album. The Miles catalog is endlessly rewarding. "Circle" is from just one of his many phases (a mid-1960s quintet where he's joined by Herbie Hancock on piano, Tony Williams on drums, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, and Ron Carter on bass).

A poem for a sunny day: Tom Wayman's "Did I Miss Anything?" takes a common question posed by a student who has missed class and uses it to explore with sly philosophical wit how much and how little is going on in any given situation we experience. 

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 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

Works Cited

Davis, Miles. "Circle." Miles Smiles, Columbia, 1967.

Wayman, Tom. "Did I Miss Anything?" Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools, https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/013.html. Accessed 14 Mar. 2020.