Selections from Trella Romine's library at Terradise Nature Center
Come on out and sit in our deck chair;
It is cooler by far in the shade.
We will sip at our Cokes
And rehash ancient jokes
And forget about barter and trade.
Come park the tired frame in our deck chair;
Relax and refresh till you burst.
There is just this one catch
(You’re expecting it, natch):
It’s your job to set it up firstl
by Ray Romine Tuesday, June 9, 1953
This phase of the sexes quite plainly reveals
Which one is ahead in the battle of wits:
A man is exactly as old as he feels ,
But a woman’s as young as her conscience permits.
by Ray Romine Thursday, July 20, 1950
Only storms and rain and wind
Move about undisciplined;
Catbirds, roses, humans-these
Own responsibilities.
Yet, the wind and storms must move
In a planned, well-patterned groove;
And birds and blossoms, loss and gain,
All depend upon the rain.
by Ray Romine Saturday, January 19, 1946
You can’t have everything,
That is true;
But SOMEBODY has his,
And mine too!
by Ray Romine Thursday, April 2, 1953
“Arthur Godfrey has been commissioned by President Truman as a full commander in the Naval Reserve.”
–News item
Be careful, Arthur, don’t waste your breath-
Reds seldom laugh themselves to death.
by Ray Romine Friday, September 22, 1950
I’ve hesitated, to my shame,
To call some big Marine a name
Without that same Marine’s consent.
(I’m also not the President)
by Ray Romine Wednesday, September 6, 1950
Promises, maybe, are made to be broken;
Truth to be twisted, and lies to be spoken;
But someone forever is giving the lie
To my own ingenious alibi.
by Ray Romine Wednesday, March 21, 1951
I am regarded as odd
Because I don’t think like other people,
Quite.
“He’s a little queer”,
Or, “His sense of values is twisted”,
Because I’d rather have a poem,
Or a bed of Iris,
Or watch a sunset or the stars
Than to shoot pool,
Or kill rabbits,
Or run wild with loose women,
Or other he-man things like that.
Why–I don’t even smoke or drink
Or swear much! Isn’t it awful?
But why, after all, should I make me over to be like you,
Even if you DO represent the majority?
Once, a majority of people voted for the 18th Amendment:
I’m pretty sure YOU think that majority was wrong?
So don’t try to change me over to your way
Of thinking.
I have no intention of changing you over to mine,
Except that I do believe
You might Just change enough to tolerate me
Since I have to put up with youl
Life is the state of being individual;
Without that quality, ARE we alive?
The dead have a long time to get used to each other.
The dead all think alike.
by Ray Romine Wednesday, June 27, 1945
My barber, in surroundings clean,
Is the earnest fellow whose
Tools, however super-keen,
Never slip to cut his news.
by Ray Romine Friday, December 12, 1952
I had the car insured, I thought.
Coverage of every kind I bought:
Collision, lightning, dust storms, freeze;
But birds, it seems, still roost in trees.
by Ray Romine Thursday, September 1, 1949