Tug Dumbly # 71 - Tankman

Tankman*

They finally found him –

that anonymous guy

who faced down a line of tanks

in Tiananmen square

that day in 1989

in that shot

that stopped the world

in its tracks

and seared the Globe

like a soldering iron     

to the eye

and made you chew your lip

like jerky

at what actual courage

looked like –

just a skinny crazy guy  

so way out and alone

and far beyond mercy

poking a beautiful brave

blood flower down the barrel

of old Mao’s faceless metal beast.

Yeah, Tankman!

They found him!

And now he’s found an agent

and done Oprah

and ghostwrote a bestseller

and they’re making the film

with Jackie Chan

and he’s putting his name

to a Revolutionary Clothing Brand

with a cute little tank logo, and …

         

… and it’s nice he didn’t die.

But I dunno, maybe some things

are best left to the imagination

where they’re free to live bigger, richer lives.  

Like, I never want to know

who Jack the Ripper ‘really’ was.

Would be happier if the Titanic

had been left to lie

undiscovered, encrusting mystery

in the depths of mind.

I mean good luck to Tankman

plucked from obscurity like he was  

from flipping eggs in that Shandong Diner.

He’s big now, a ‘brand ambassador’.

Only careful what you wish for.

We wanted him and now he’s here –     

moved on from that old massacre

to doing ads for Tourism China.

* This poem appears in my debut poetry book, Son Songs, just out through Flying Islands Press. If you're interested in getting a copy, please email me at tugdumbly@gmail.com, or message me through Facebook. Thanks!