Poets walk with their heels on the blade of a knife - And cut their barefoot souls to blood! These lines from Vladimir Vysotsky can primarily be attributed to himself. He was not destined to live to see even a small collection of poems, while the lines born at night flew around the vast country at the speed of sound. He knew what fame was, but during his lifetime he was not a recognized poet. But it was precisely the Poet that I felt most of all. This collection most fully represents Vysotsky's poetic heritage.