Laika

I wonder how Laika felt,
The dog the Russians blasted
into space in the 50s.

Did she pee with terror
in her dog-sized pressure
suit upon lift-off?

Or did she sit there stoicly,
the capsule transformed into
a shaking high-gravity kennel?

Did she whine with wonder
at the blue-green planet revolving
slowly beneath her?

Or did she think it was all
a particularly strange dream
and vow to avoid dumpster caviar?

Back on Earth, a stamp in her honour--
imagine that! A stamp!--did the adulation
go to her head? Did she refuse

to behave or sit still for the camera
unless she was called
by her real name: Kudryavka?