Never have I seen
sadder eyes than Laika’s,
never so lost a look!
Paddling with her soft paws
...
I opened the door
and saw my mother:
there she was,
in the middle of the room, standing,
...
I should turn my back on them,
those behind untransparent window seals
of office buildings,
them, the invisibles,
...
It’s a cat and mouse play
between you and me,
you scoundrel,
you bird of prey,
...
A man and a woman
lie close to each other
like a pale crescent.
...
Leaves auburn burn in autumn sunlight -
all forest ablaze.
What a magnificant maze is life
before winter comes, in black and white,
...
Sometimes I go to distant places,
as far as the city bus reaches,
finding myself in spooky suburbs,
immersed in pitch black night,
...
I X-rayed my life:
Thirty years together
(a life-span in Africa) ,
spent in the kitchen.
...
There are so many trees in poetry,
so many birds
and so much love,
the world is almost Heaven -
...
All this sunshine
on the green hill
with yellow flowery spots
and blue yonder
...
Two places you made inseparable:
Tate Gallery, where we met
and Hyde Park, where we kissed.
...
In a frenzy
of swishing washing crushing
sounds of the waves,
tempted by the cries of seagulls
...
As I was taking your clothes
out of our maiden wardrobe,
this dress is yours, so are the socks,
...
I discarded many words
I don’t need any more,
like old clothes.
So the things, names,
...
Laika
Never have I seen
sadder eyes than Laika’s,
never so lost a look!
Paddling with her soft paws
in inimical vacuum,
(nothing to draw you to your bosom
like Mother Earth’s gravitation)
herself soft snowflake,
opening her soundless mouth
trying to utter either cry or sigh,
just a tiny, tiniest cry,
no matter if no one hears…
But as in a dream,
her efforts were in vain.
To send a dog up there
to be first living creature in space,
how insane!
After in her mind, like a prayer,
wishing farewell
to stray dogs and stray cats
of Moscow streets,
to her beloved four leg fellow,
she probably thought
I shall surely perish,
but my spirit will bellow
of man’s cruelty -
Vast universe will echo…
Never, never have I seen
sadder eyes than Laika’s.