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 First published in Overland Issue 228 28 March 202428 March 2024 · Main Posts Why we should value not only lived experience, but also lived expertise Sukhmani Khorana In the wake of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I want to extend the central idea of El Gibbs’s 2022 essay on 'lived expertise' and argue that in media accounts of racism, analytical expertise and lived experience ought to be valued together and even in the same body. First published in Overland Issue 228 5 March 2024 · Main Posts Andrew Charlton’s school assignment Alex McKinnon Australia's Pivot to India exists for three reasons: so that when Andrew Charlton is interviewed on the radio or introduced on Q+A, his bio includes the phrase "he has written a book about Indian-Australian relations"; to fend off accusations that he is another Kristina Keneally engaging in electoral colonialism in western Sydney; and to help the Albanese government strengthen economic and military ties with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.