Gate of Heavenly Peace

Gate of Heavenly Peace

The light of the screen flickered across my face
My young impressionable eight year old mind
Gazing there upon that screen
I saw a man totally consigned.

The Unknown Rebel stood there still
Halting all their military might
Stopping them dead with only his will
Standing to fight the good fight.

Watching this symbol of protest
Standing solemnly in the square
There is no way I could have known
Of the girl who lived near there.

Eighteen years later I stood in that square
That hot July day under an azure sky
In a country that once seemed so far away
Now seen through another’s eyes.

We walked there happily hand in hand
Around a monument to heroes who had to fight
And she told me of her time near there
With shots heard ringing through the night.

Her long black hair flowed so freely
In a gentle summer’s kiss
How had we come to find each other
Enraptured in our euphoric bliss.

I still think of that tank man today
One lone man taking a stand
And how we all eventually come full circle
No matter how well our life is planned.