Week 13: Gravediggers

In the context of Bringing the Shovel Down, "Undertaker's Syndrome, or Gravedigger's Syndrome" was particularly striking to me. So much of the book is about trained violence and systematic suffering, in this poem I saw an invented syndrome that speaks to the potential side-effects of being aware of that hurting.

...patient develops the deep and abiding sensation of being the caretaker of an invisible cemetery. Sometimes being aware and affected by violence and suffering in the world can mean wandering around life more attentive to the "invisible cemetery" than to being alive. For me this poem dealt with the challenging dimension of compassion. 

In the advanced condition, the imaginary cemetery dominates all aspects of a patients waking life... As a highly sensitive human, having perspective on the horrors of the world may make one a more knowledgeable and effective world citizen, but it can also take over "waking life." This poem feels important because it acknowledges human emotional limitations in the context of changing the problematic world patterns.