Laika

From here in my cage I see them make plans

Hear them reassure investors, shake presidents' hands

The men with machines put tubes into me

They measure my vital signs, my flight trajectory

They taught me to sit, taught me to lie down

Told me that a thousand years of wondering would end now

They fed me my last meal, was the same as my first

From here in my cage, I watch the men work

And now it's a flurry of lab coats and hurry

They talk about budgets and taxpayers' money

And I wag my tail and I be a good girl

They forgot to walk me this morning they were too busy changing the world

And I'm out from my cage and I'm trying to be brave

But the men they are sweating and now they're injecting

And as I awake

I'm shocked and amazed

At the sheer, crushing empty

And I look down on men's little earth, sitting there quietly, wondering what it's worth

And I drift away, but that's okay, there's more room to play out here than back in my cage

And I know I will die, but that is fine

Cause in some way I am helping mankind

And I don't understand, cause I'm not as smart as them

But even a parachute would have shown that they cared

And so I float on, space's only dog

Friend to the stars, pet of the Sun

From my little ship I dream of my bone

A walk in the park, something comfy to sleep on

And they call me laika but I'd just like to say

That I was born little curly and I'll die with that name