A poem by Rufus O’Connell Cantillon, age 17, Cork City

Laika stamp. Photograph: iStock
Laika stamp. Photograph: iStock
Your eye is pure, a lake full of pearls

Too deep for us to reach – a star,

In many, in your gaze, is a dull light.

You will see many like them, now –

Far beyond this blue, passed heaven.

We see you, weightless:

You are but to orbit us.


Your fur is cold. Long now

It’s been since last you felt, warmth,

Of home, of heart;

How little there was, of heart.

A dog’s trust is weightless,

It doesn’t take much to cast it away.


You, are expendable.

Stars’ cold shoulders may try

To shine to your pupil. Your coffin

Has frozen, your lungs lined with your breath.

Your name is weightless,

You, are weightless.
Rufus O'Connell Cantillon
Rufus O'Connell Cantillon