laika

cyclical, motionless
gazing out with open eyes
this experiment, filching stray
this endless mass of space and time
the stars forming circlets for you
and around and around
perhaps she died without a sound.
as her shell circled for days
and nobody said a word for her
she'll devour her poison
then burn up completely
but heart contracting with the heat
and her frantic breath subsiding
she beat them to her death.
no soft caress for laika
as she took her final breath.