Sputnik soared
Atlas Shrugged
Mankind roared
Earth unplugged

Start of a space race
What a disgrace
Amidst all the pace
Who lost their face?

Fifty years
Communism shattered
Man yearns
His dreams shattered

Ayn Rand published
Russia extinguished
Galt spoke
The world awoke

Dagny Taggart
A railroad at heart
Torn apart
Yet, a work of art

Hank Rearden
Beneath a burden
Refused a pardon
Became a guardian

Francisco
Acted like in a disco
His character
Much like a fresco

John Galt
His life exalts
Like single malt
Pure gestalt

Yuri Gagarin
In space, rollickin’
Williams Sunita
Became a Senorita

Mir space station
An unsavory destination
Can man have affection?
Mere words, with trepidation

A pale blue dot
In an ordinary spot
Homo Sapiens
What have they got?

Freedom? Dictatorship? Democracy?
These may be human constructs
But the doomsday if Atlas really Shrugged
Is there for all to see

(In commemoration of the fifty year anniversary of Sputnik’s launch and the publication of Atlas Shrugged.)