ALEXEY NAVALNY’S MURDER

What possessed the man was democracy,

and it killed him, he had more hope than fate

was willing to give him,

his grace and humor faced down

by a cruel regime in a country used

to the rule of cruel regimes,

an autocracy led by Vladimir Putin,

who saw Navalny as an easy kill.

Now hope in Russia takes a holiday,

a well deserved mourning

for the fallen hero of a nation.

2/19/24