Laika The Space Dog

By Sidhi Gupta

Kissed her button nose, and her curious eyes

Honey golden fur, a few whimpers and cries

Closed the capsule, for the one and only time

Laika lived for them, and for them she would die

We don’t choose to be heroes, and she didn’t choose to say goodbye

Found on the streets, too used to cold,

Laika, oh Laika never got to grow old

Picked like an unlucky clover for her heart

Her wagging tail doomed her from the start

The evil live and the docile fry.

Put a bomb to her chest and shouted when they saw fire,

She was alone and scared, but not filled with a sliver ire

Wondering why the world had gone so dark, why she felt the pain

Laika got a home, but then she on the streets again

Maybe she saw the sun, or maybe she saw the moon.

Maybe when she closed her eyes, she heard chimes and gentle tunes

Laika they put your face on the TVs,

Laika, oh Laika for a moment you were free.

Laika, they called her lovely, she was all giggles and pants,

Pink tongued, gentle, given no chance,

A dog who never got to play catch, went straight to the scientists and a mad

man

She was their machine, but acts more human than they can

Laika, oh Laika, would you do it all over?

For the slither of home, for the little bit of shelter?

Laika, oh Laika, do you ever miss it?

Did you ever curse them as you made your final orbit?

The men went to sleep, their eyes fully closed,

Well rested, under their roofs, forever composed

They knew that Laika, oh Laika would never hope

That the people who killed her got a bad scope.

By Sidhi Gupta