Editor's Note: This story is part of the "Hidden Canon" – a special series celebrating Ukrainian classic literature and aiming to bring it to a wider international audience. The series is supported by the Ukrainian Institute. Literary giants are typically regarded with an almost sacred reverence. For the 20th Ukrainian poet Mykhail Semenko, however, reverence was overrated. He was prepared to set tradition ablaze — literally — to clear the way for a new artistic future. “I want to tell you th