Poetry. In FROM THE MIDDLE WOODS, Neeli Cherkovski has done the nearly impossible: he has blended the sacred and the profane, as well as the essences of pristine nature and concrete commerce. Originally inspired by The Confucian Odes, the poems in this collection bring to mind the lovely acrobatics of Tu Fu and Marichiko in translations by Kenneth Rexroth. Cherkovski's "elemental" poems, sprung from personal experiences, bring to life such landscapes and sensations as the pungent odors of ocean and pine needles along the tree-studded coast of northern California. Here, East meets West and politics meets wilderness head on, yet gently, in Cherkovski's capable and caring sculptor's hands. This book is masterful proof that modern irony and self-absorbed narrative do not rule the American literary psyche, nor is true compassion dead in America's harbors and woods.