We trembled
Then we were told we had to live
This life got imprinted in our heads
and turned into itself
the kids left
we found what we could give them
and it was fine
recently there was a cold night
a cool dawn and sleep
there are a few of us
not a hair not a handful not an inch
we will yield to you and the conscience
was crushed
the garbage can
was taken out.
Translated from the Russian by Anna Halberstadt

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Maria Vladimirovna “Masha” Alyokhina (born 1988) is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot who has been imprisoned for her political poetry, performance, and activism against the Putin regime in Russia.