The Crow and I

Poetry. LGBT Studies. California Interest. Neeli Cherkovski continues his poetic exploration started with his PEN Award winning LEANING AGAINST TIME, followed by FROM THE CANYON OUTWARD and now with his THE CROW AND I. Cherkovski, again opens the window to the self as he takes us deeper into his search of time, reason, redemption and love. In this, the third in his series of poetic memoirs, Cherkovski reflects on his sexuality, the lives he has touched and been touched by, and his love of his adopted city, San Francisco. Cherkovski, now a reluctant elder, has found his place in the garden. A place where friends of every sort are welcome to sit, rest their wings, sip a cappuccino and share a life time of wonder with the poet--forever in full flight. I first met Neeli Cherovski in the Caffe Trieste in 1977, he sat at the table next to mine, quietly reciting a new poem to a friend. We began a conversation about poetry and painting that has continued for thirty-five years. As his faithful companion I would follow him across the hills of San Francisco day and night, listening to him recite and discuss Lorca, Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Ezra Pound. In his small apartment at 28 Harwood Alley he created a warm and wise shelter for poets young and old, feeding them and caring for their writing. For months at a time he took in Bob Kaufman, Gregory Corso, Marty Matz, and others in need. In the midst of this generous life Neeli wrote poems daily. He celebrated a love and learning in language that is exuberant, vivid, and reflective. Neeli lives for poetry. Long may this great imagination thrive.--Raymond Foye Writing now at the height of his powers, Neeli Cherkovski has evolved into a quintessential San Francisco poet of international stature--speaking not only to our times but back across the ages to those greats of whom he is a certain successor: Whitman and Neruda, Patchen and Pasolini, his poems, hard-earned yet easeful, lyrical but tough.--Alan Kaufman

About the Author :
Neeli Cherkovski is internationally recognized as a poet, memoirist and literary chronicler. He is a recipient of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles National Award for literary excellence and a 2014 Acker Award for poetry and biography. Cherkovski has taught writing and World Literature at New College of California. Aside from such celebrated poetry collections as: LEANING AGAINST TIME (R.L. Crow Publications, 2004), FROM THE CANYON OUTWARD (R.L. Crow Publications, 2009), FROM THE MIDDLE WOODS (New Native Press, 2011), Animal, and THE CROW AND I (R.L. Crow Publications, 2015), Cherkovski has also published poetry collections in German, Italian and Spanish. He is the author of Whitman's Wild Children and the biographies Bukowski: A Life and Ferlinghetti: A Biography. Cherkovski, originally from Los Angeles, is a long time resident of San Francisco, where he lives with his partner Jessie Cabrera.