Su Ben Poet Free verse

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.

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