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And These Thy Gifts

Poems 2007-2009

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The seventh collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, And These Thy Gifts: Poems 2007-2009, contains another five-book set of unique material. In Theresa, Red and Serenity, the self-styled ramble poet began an arc that would permeate throughout the entire volume. Pieces like "God through the Lens of a Kaleidoscope," "You Wonder Where We're At," and "These Thereafters" all spoke of the current world, in relation to a world that once was. "Where is My Spy?" and "Irish Girls in Waiting" cited friends McDonald had made in his two decades working in NYC Transit, and "Incident on Blake Street," "Inside the Crawford Grill," and "Is Heaven Such a Place?" touched on the ballpark. In book two, Contemplating Farewell, the collection amps up, as the impending demise of Shea Stadium and the sudden loss of a dear childhood friend take center stage. "I Wonder About Yesterday" and "A Final Opened, Indeed" honor Roy Riegel, who passed away on Opening Day of the 2008 baseball season, and "The Lights of Skillman," "A Ramp Overlooking Ecstasy," and "In '73" all looked back at Shea, even as it still hung on for dear life. Whispering to Heaven, the third book of the set, used a trip to Los Angeles ("Risin' Mojo on the Diamond," "The Night the 70's Returned" and "When Nothing Turns Up Differently"), Anaheim ("The Boater Battalion," "A Ruby's Diner Monday") and San Francisco ("Where Were Without Willie," "The Known at Polo Guy") to lead up to the final days of the old yard in Queens ("Sittin' in the Greens"). In the last two books of the collection, On the Steps With You and The Wonder of the Silver Wander, the final days of Shea and the election and inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black U.S. President offer up the most evocative images. "The Planes Weep Openly," "And So the Fade Begins," "The Sound of Hope" and "Another Tuesday" (Steps) and "The Seats that Have Come Home Again," "Agee and Jones," "From 16 to 44" and "Whistle Stops" (Wander) offer up the best of these. All in all, And These Thy Gifts: Poems 2007-2009, might well be McDonald's most reflective volume yet.

Weniger Details

Thomas Porky McDonald is a poet and writer who often comments on both baseball and life. His first six poetry collections, each of which contained five smaller volumes, spanned the 1990s on into the early twenty-first century. Ground Pork: Poems 1989-1994, Downtown Revival: Poems 1994-1997, Closer to Rona: Poems 1997-1999, Still Chuckin': Poems 1999-2002, In the Cameo Shade: Poems 2002-2005, and Vespers at Sunset: Poems 2007-2009 all presented a writer whose work was often distinguished by the use of baseball and the ballpark venue. Other previously published poetry came in the form of two thematic volumes. Diamond Reflections: Baseball Pieces for Real Fans takes the most vibrant baseball-related poems of the chronological collections from the many other life-related pieces contained in each five-book set, and Dem Poems: The Brooklyn Collection is born of verses written from 1985 to 2005, two decades when the writer's jobsite was based in the Borough of Churches. His book on poetic process, Does the Toy Cannon Fire Still at Night? cited sixty-two poems from his first three collections, giving the actual story behind each piece. Beyond the poetry landscape, the skipper's scrapbook was inspired by his own Queens upbringing and told the tale of two men and the journey they took together through the final season of their home ballpark. Shea Stadium and Series Endings: A Whimsical Look at the Final Plays of Baseball's Fall Classic, 1903-2003 gave a distinctly different view of baseball's World Series than most mainstream histories. There was also At a Loss to Eternity: Baseball Teams of Note That Didn't Win it All, a celebration of great, nonseries winning teams; Never These Men: One Man's Look at Baseball's Creatively Cultured Characters, a biting rebuttal to the pervading need of the media to brand people for life; and Where the Angels Bow to the Grass: A Boy's Memoir, which is taken mainly from the writer's childhood days of the 1960s and 1970s, describing the bond between McDonald and his father, Bill "The Chief" McDonald. He has also published a three-part anthology series, which includes An Irishman's Tribute to the Negro Leagues, Over the Shoulder and Plant on One: An Irishman's Tribute to Willie Mays and Hit Sign, Win Suit: An Irishman's Tribute to Ebbets Field. Each volume contains short stories, historical material, and a small dose of McDonald's trademark baseball poetry. McDonald has also published a book of short stories, Paradise Oval and his singular New Yorkers' take on 9/11, The Air That September. His most recent book, A Walk in the City: An Incomplete Tour, was a mini travelogue filled with places to go (from the most famous to the amazingly obscure) in New York City. Born in St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, McDonald has lived in nearby Astoria his entire life.