This book contains the best of the creative work of Mykola Bazhan, one of the two famous Ukrainian nominees for the Nobel Prize in Literature. And if the prize were awarded to a Ukrainian poet, the wording would read: for his critical mind, creative energy, intellectual depth, lyrical power, sincerity and humanity. For his pen, sharp and precise as a scalpel. For the ability to draw a thread from the past to the future and connect them with the present into one indivisible whole. For music turned into words. For organic existence in the world culture. And for the story of hope.