MAY THE FORCE BE ALWAYS WITH YOU
My daily routine
features two
amazing moments.
Both take place
early in the morning.
At 6:00 a.m. we get up,
at 6:10 a.m. we start
with the wake-up workout
outside.
But before that
we would listen
to the anthem.
Imagine:
an enclosed yard
in front of one of the prison barracks.
Snow.
Men in black prison robes,
boots and fur caps,
all lined up
with their hands behind their backs
as the words from a loudspeaker
on a tall pole
reverberate through the whole
prison complex:
"In full glory shall rise, our land of the free..."
One must admire it.
My second best
moment
comes after a short while.
It's the last
exercise of the session.
After a joke of mine
the inmates from my unit
call it
no other than
"Empire strikes back".
The loudspeaker commands:
"Marching in place. Starting position:
place your hands on your waist.
Get ready. The left foot first.
One-two-three-four... "
And the men in black
are marching in place
with the most vicious
looks on their faces,
with their boots
thumping heavily
on the ground.
In that moment
I think I'm an actor
in a low tech remake
of the "Star Wars"
where,
instead of stormtroopers
with laser guns,
there are convicts
in padded jackets and fur caps.
Cigarettes clenched between their teeth.
Iron rods clenched in their hands.
Enforcing the Emperor's will,
the Space Convicts are marching
from planet to planet
eager to crush
any rebel resistance.
But wherever they stay,
at 6:05 a.m. sharp
they listen
to the anthem,
at 6:10 a.m. begin with
the wake-up
workout,
and at 6:30 a.m. they put
some grits
onto their metal plates
and poor
into their metal mugs
some sweet tea.
May the force be always with you.
В оригинале:
Алексей Навальный. Да пребудет с вами сила. Письма из заключения. 2021
"В моей рутине есть два момента, которые я обожаю..."
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