A lone man stands

In front of a line of tanks

Is he mad?

Already hundreds perhaps thousands

Have been killed in months

Of protests.

He climbs up the tank

What does he say to those inside?

When he is on the ground again

The first tank maneuvers

To go around.

He moves to block it.

For a moment his steadfast resistance

Creates a stalemate

Then he is whisked away

The watching world breathes again

But cannot forget the

Man in Tiananmen Square

Who stood fast