Published in Overland Issue 201 Summer 2010 · Writing / Main Posts Tank Man Eileen Chong 5 June 1989, Gate of Heavenly Peace He’d just been shopping. Nestled inside the bags were jars, tins, vegetables, maybe even a whole chicken. The road stretched empty except for the tanks. His friends would be at his door soon. He needed an hour for the bird to simmer into tenderness. Ten minutes to peel and dice the carrots, onions and ginger. Half an hour to boil the rice. But the tanks slowly advanced on swiss roll wheels. His bags were heavy. Their white handles cut. His hands grew red and riven. But he stood there, a sculpture, grown into the land. The first tank came so close its hulk blocked out the sun even as the man lifted his chin and searched out the tank’s eye. Eileen Chong Eileen Chong is an Australian poet. She is the author of nine books. We Speak of Flowers is forthcoming from UQP in 2025. Website: www.eileenchong.com.au More by Eileen Chong › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 11 December 202411 December 2024 · Writing The trouble Ken Bolton’s poems make for me, specifically, at the moment Linda Marie Walker These poems doom me to my chair and table and computer. I knew it was all downhill from here, at this age, but it’s been confirmed. My mind remains town-size, hemmed in by pine plantations and kanite walls and flat swampy land and hills called “mountains”. 4 October 202418 October 2024 · Main Posts Announcing the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers 2024 longlist Editorial Team Sponsored by Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and supporters, the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, established in 2014 and now in its ninth year, recognises the talent of young Indigenous writers across Australia.
