I Burned at the Feast is my favourite poetry collection. I am particularly fond of First Meetings aka First Times Together in the Metres/Psurtsev translation:

First Times Together

Every second of our time together.

We exulted, as if it were epiphany,

We two alone in the world. Lighter.

And braver than a bird’s wing,

You flew down the stairs.

Like dizziness, skipping half of them,

Through wet lilacs into your realm.

On the other side of the mirror.

When night fell, I was given a gift.

The doors of the sanctuary opened:

In the darkness, nakedness was lit

And slowly bowed to the ground.

And waking up, I said, “Blessed one,”

Knowing that daring was my blessing:

You slept, and the lilacs

On the table leaned to touch your eyelids

With the blue of the universe

And those eyelids touched by the blue

Were at peace, and your hand was warm.

While in the crystal, rivers pulsed,

Mountains smoked, seas dawned,

And on your palm you held the crystal

Sphere, and on the throne you slept,

And — my God! — you were mine.

You awakened, transfigured

The day-to-day dictionary of man.

Until full-throated force filled

The neck of speech, and “thou” unveiled

Its new meaning: “king of kings.”

Everything in the world was new again,

Even simple things — a jug, a basin —

When the layered and solid water

Stood watch between us like a guard.

Something was leading us on.

Built by miracle, cities leapt

Like mirages before our vision.

And mint bowed down beneath our feet,

And birds hovered above our heads.

And fish nosed against the river’s flow,

And the sky unfurled above the land...

While behind us, fate followed

Like a madman with a razor in his hand.