Goodbye Laika

A Poem by Shaun Anthony

This poem is about the first dog in space, Laika, and her incredible journey from her perspective.

This is the story of the worlds bravest dog,
Who battled the wind and rain and smog,
Only to be wrenched from her sodden home,
And placed in a suit with a perspex dome.

In a long forgotten day in the history of us,
In a city called Moscow next to a bright yellow bus,
A dog with no name scrounges for food,
To feed her hungry homeless brood.

A man reaches forward with meat in hand,
As she arches forward unaware what is planned,
He grabs her by her fraying fur,
And the next few days are a distant blur.

She awakens in a metal cage,
Looking around and feeling rage,
But she knows that she must not fight,
She must fight the urge to fight and bite.

The cage door opens and a hand comes near,
As she edges back in startled fear.
He places her on a wooden counter,
Where two other dogs she does encounter.

The next three years were full of tests,
Where they had to wear tight suits and vests,
For a reason they did not know,
They were dogs; They wanted a home to go.

Eventually we learn as historians claim,
The worlds bravest dog was given a name.
Laika it was to be,
A combination of different pedigree.

Though she came from a humble slum,
It was her mission to become,
The first space traveller of which there are many,
Now as common as the humble penny.

On the day of the launch she was calm and collected,
As she was placed into a rocket that stood erected.
The countdown began and time stood still,
For the little brown dog wearing a bright red twill.

Zero.

The rocket lifted from the ground,
Carrying with it the tiny hound,
Blasting through the bright white clouds,
Disappearing from the crowds.

A few minutes later shed broken the sphere,
Leaving behind her worldly fear.
Gazing out of the six inch glass,
Floating around with weightless mass.

Unfortunately this story does not end well,
For there was one thing the Russians forgot to tell.
There was no way to bring her home,
So forever in space she was to roam.

As far as history chooses to tell,
She did not suffer any hell,
For shortly after the fateful launch,
She went to sleep, with nose in haunch.

Today her legacy will live forever,
As the start of the greatest space endeavour,
So we say thank you to the great space hiker,
Our pal and friend, A dog called Laika.