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...