Closer to Rona Poems 1997-1999 The third collection of poetry to be released by Thomas Porky McDonald, Closer to Rona, Poems 1997-1999 reflects on the great love of the poet"s life, Rona Todman. The five-book set begins with Season of Destiny, which was coming to a conclusion about the time Mr. McDonald and Ms. Todman began spending more and more time together. Lasting reflections come alive in "Incompletions" and "9th Avenue Ain"t Pretty", while requisite baseball pieces "How They Ran", "Chestnut Air" and "When Heroes Die" offer up a poet deep into his own element. The arrival of Rona spurs the second and most unique of all his poetry collections, Life With Toddy. The overwhelming majority of pieces in Toddy are directly to or about Rona, so much so that this volume is clearly McDonald"s first genuine love poem collection. "When You Go Back", "Longing For You", "Heaven Across the Triboro" and the title piece all speak of a devotion and passion not seen before from the Queens troubadour. "Dream"s Song" "Velvet Lined", "As the Lightning Froze" and "Hills of Paradise" each also define this rapturous collection.On the heels of Toddy comes Calamine Pink, which continues to explore the relationship between the poet and his dream girl. This is most evident in "Our Eternity", "All You Need to Know" and "An Apology For Lost Time", while "Believers" and "A Sunday Cry" are verses less personal yet thought provoking. The ballpark, touched upon briefly in Toddy ("Off Elysian Pier", "To Be Mays One Day") returns vibrantly in Pink with "Blue Velvet Nightfall", "Ellwood Would Have Loved It", "A Sure Thing in Center" and "They Never Booed Hodges in Brooklyn." The final two books in Closer to Rona are Locomotive Limbo and Legendary Unknowns. "My Desperate For You Soul", "When I"ve You" and "Time to Be a Friend" highlight Limbo, while "Pacific Blue Correspondence", "Corner Lights" and "Roads" distinguish Unknowns, which closes out a most electric time in the poet"s life.