Prague Spring Photograph, 1968
The Prague crowd jostles a tank–

soldiers, just boys, at the gun turret.

Legs stretched out, feet crossed,

one seems relaxed, but a tense torso

and Kalashnikov negate the casual pose.

His comrade’s leg dangles over the tank’s edge,

steel boot-tip just clearing the crowd. He too

cradles a weapon, muzzle aimed groundwards.

This boy tries to ignore a girl, hair close-cropped

as Saint Joan’s, who beats the tank with clenched fists,

and open-mouthed, shouts defiance under his averted gaze.