Beach in Orbit

by Andrei Sen-Senkov
     translated by Ainsley Morse

for a while they sent cats out to belka, strelka
and the other space dogs the cats would fly off
never came back
they just didn’t want to
they just didn’t understand why
they were heading out to outer space in the first place
and they would hang stars on their claws stars
glittering like mice in the darkness

they’d head out cautious and lovely
like you
touching the water with one foot
before entering the naked sea