I wish I had just one small drop
Of blood from that man’s veins
Standing tall against all odds
Despite the risk of chains
They poisoned him with Novichok
Lethal nerve agent, military grade
Putin wanted him not just dead
But slowly to feel pain
He would have died on airline flight
If the crew didn’t bust routine
Pilot diverted to a nearby airport
He got an emergency shot of atropine
Next day he was transferred to a Berlin hospital
I’m surprised Putin let him go
Germans proved the poison type
And how the Russians roll
He nursed to health for several months
Gaining strength, still fighting back
Tricked a Russian hit squad member
To admit the cruel attack
Then he flew back to Russia
Despite the obvious risk
He still had vision of “a beautiful future Russia”
His love of country wouldn’t quit
He was arrested at the airport
Charged and tried in kangaroo court
Tossed into a gulag
Forevermore to rot
But he kept his spirit and mind intact
Passed notes and messages, still defiant
Railed against Putin’s Ukraine war
Even in jail was not compliant
They shipped him to a harsher gulag
In the Arctic Circle, so remote
Tightened chains to shut him up
To further cuff his throat
With flagging health he soldiered on
His principles would not bend
Despite the torture of the state
He didn’t quit, he fought ‘til the end
When Alexie Navalny died in prison on Feb 16, 2024
All good Russians wept as one
Putin will never know such love
It can’t be forced with guns
Waipahu Bob 