The first anthology in Russian or anywhere else, collecting poets' responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, includes 281 poems by 190 authors from 32 countries. Among them are recognized classics (John Ashbery, James Merrill, Thom Gunn, Adrienne Rich, Ernst Jandl) and young poets who had barely made a name for themselves before the disease claimed them. The book, in a variety of voices, speaks of resilience in times of trial, the value of human life, and love.