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Jack Harvey

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Laika

Alone in a globe of metal I'm confined,
Kennelled in headlines by the yelping press.
A dog without an owner, I was found
Wandering the streets. I make no sound
That you can hear. Down there you cannot guess
What force of terror dislocates my mind 

My limbs, my body trapped. The rocket's thrust
Has robbed me of my sense of smell, therefore
The view the porthole of my capsule shows
Means nothing. All my wits are in my nose,
By scent I know where I have been before,
Know whom to run from, whom I dare to trust.

The pain that tears me, the bewildering sense
That I have lost myself, it won't last long.
My tongue is dry and though I could not eat
You've sent me skywards without drink or meat.
Astray I scavenged and was lean but strong,
My will to live was hungry and intense.

Now I can make no move, through space I glide.
A blade digs through me as I pant for breath.
You send me first to plough this empty field.
Tell me what crops will my destruction yield?
What harvest will be gathered from my death?
What seeds be ground and baked because I die?       

(from The Ice Man of the Alps)

Note:  In 1957 the dog Laika was deliberately sent to her death by humans she trusted, in the interest of human space travel.

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