Did I Miss Anything?

"Factory Time" by Tom Wayman (1993)

Published in 1993 as part of the same collection as “Did I Miss Anything,” this longer free-verse poem is narrated in the voice of a factory worker whose life is defined by work shifts. “Factory Time” examines similar themes as “Did I Miss Anything” but with the factory providing a different context. Like “Did I Miss Anything,” the poem grapples with the devaluation workers feel. Additionally, it explores how the forces of industrialization dehumanize the life of the working class.

"For a Student Sleeping in a Poetry Workshop" by David Wagoner (2002)

Like “Did I Miss Anything,” this free-verse poem is voiced with the ironic tone of a fed-up teacher. In this poem by American poet David Wagoner (born 1926), the teacher observes a sleeping student in a poetry workshop and wonders which lyrics and fables the student would have created in his slumber. The tone of Wagoner’s poem is more of a cool sarcasm compared to Wayman’s red-hot irony, and its language is more complex and allusive. The juxtaposition of the two poems illuminates two different literary approaches to a similar subject.

"Toads" by Philip Larkin (1955)

“Toads” is a humorous poem on the subject of routine work by British poet Philip Larkin (1922-1985), which uses the British slang of “toadying” as a metaphor for mundane, obsequious labor. The speaker of the poem wishes he could escape such labor, but ends up realizing he is a toad like any other. Larkin’s attitude towards work in “Toads” differs from Wayman’s perspective: in “Toads,” work is a painful reality that must be borne, while for Wayman work is action that creates meaning. The teacher in “Did I Miss Anything” mocks the students but never the work of teaching itself.