This touching tribute to Laika, the dog sacrificed in the early days of Soviet space research, is by our member Fiona Owen of Holyhead Meeting.
Laika – c. 1954–November 3, 1957
Thinking of you, I looked up –
saw your face in the clouds.
Now there’s a thing: cocked head,
ears perked with the tips flopped over
and the eyes, yes, they were yours,
bright orbs of keen light.
You held for moments
but cloud being cloud
your face dissolved back
into sky.
You’re Everydog
and all the dogs I’ve loved. Two years before my birth,
something of me (please) was with you
in that tiny dog-space they shot to heaven.
So can we say you were not quite alone as Earth
fell away and you were left with your doubling
heartrate, pulserate, blood pressure soaring,
weightlessness, waiting, trust?
They were sorry afterwards. Before the day,
Dr Yazdovsky took you home to play
with his children, gave you the glimpse
of another life.
~ Fiona Owen. August 2012
Visit Fiona’s site at: www.rhwng.com