Caretaking Poem by Paul Kesler

Here on the grounds there are many ways of downsizing, though this sometimes poses problems.

For example, I often begin with the small tombs. Now that the price of plots has escalated, it seems only proper that these graves be emptied rapidly, since keeping the ditches occupied can raise property taxes. True, some of the poorer townspeople have occasionally staged overnight raids, and many a time have I seen a malcontented pauper digging frantically to remove a relative’s corpse before dawn. If only they had talked to me first.

Sometimes, too, I have displayed an egalitarian spirit by evacuating a wealthy client’s body from a different sector. This seems only just, and while certain dubious indigents have spurned it as tokenism, I still try to exercise distributive justice.

There appears to be some controversy, however, as to whether the grounds can be maintained as a public service much longer, in view of the fact that half the graves are vacant, and few of the corpses remaining have living relatives willing to pay them homage.

I have no answer for this, and in any case it concerns me very little. As a revenant myself, I am not limited to these grounds, and there are many other yards where I might apply. Somehow, I always impress my employers with my morbid demeanor and hangdog expression, the skin flaking copiously from my wrists and fingers. They know I will blend right in.

Whether they ever get ‘round to hiring live people again, I can’t say. Apparently, the economy is not ready for it, or at least that is the rumor. In any case, they’re forced to pay higher wages to the live ones, so the fact that they work more efficiently matters little. So long as the work gets done and the yards remain solvent.