Downtown Revival

The final two books that appear in Downtown Revival are Gravy Man and Universal Loner, which appear semi-autobiographical in nature. Gravy Man, in many ways as reflective as Ramble Poets, features some nostalgic material, like "Time Induced Lies", "Hey Jack Ruby", "P.S. 6 is a Parking Lot" and "Sunnyside Gardens." The tender "Waltz Into the Night" closes out this book and leads to Universal Loner, which could well be entitled "The Sad Poems." The title piece, along with "Scenes of This Earth", "All Ashore", "Miss Troubadour" and "I Never Went to the Polo Grounds" all shed a tear for a time lost. The final poem of the collection, aptly titled "Until the Next Remember", leaves the reader poised for the next five book set by McDonald, Closer to Rona: Poems 1997-1999, in which the sometime "gravy man" and "universal loner" finds love.