The Funeral Palanquin Goes With Falling Leaves

when a leader of the pallbearers stands high on the front of a funeral palanquin recites a dirge ringing a bell held in his hand the pallbearers’ response to the dirge stepping one on forward and two backward echoes more melancholically in the air then the leader’s because their response is so monotonous and simple and in this melancholic air a nil life’s last journey goes as a lonely soul i wonder how did the soul on the palanquin live his life the leaves fall on the pallbearers’ feet by a hillside slope though there is no wind to sway, the day with no tomorrow goes with the lonely soul Note: A Palanquin is a covered litter or box used to carry a person of high rank. Although two or four men with ropes carried the palanquin, the funeral palanquin, Korean traditional, is larger in its size, decorated with flowers and colorful ornaments and covered with an awning and carried by ten or more men. Nonetheless, depending upon the funeral size, the number of carriers increases.