Selections from Trella Romine's library at Terradise Nature Center
Her eyes were the green of the turbulent sea:
I looked into them, and was lost.
Her lashes, the ripples that, all wind-tossed,
Gestured rhythmically.
Now they change to the blue of an icey-hued star
That I watch with a worshipping awe.
Of what matter to me the gem without flaw,
Who wishes alone, afar?
(I await now the next change from green and from blue
To a sort of a warmer, come-get-me-son hue!!)
by Ray Romine Thursday, January 4, 1945
I’m glad I’m not a football fan
And have to work like this–
Just think of Saturday afternoons,
And all the games we’d miss!
A player, rather, would I be,
And risk some sprains and breaks–
At least he gets some credit
For the BEATING that HE TAKES!
by Ray Romine Saturday, October 3, 1942
The winds of March, I do declare,
Blow cold across my underwear.
Lowell maybe thought it the thing to share,
But the giver who’s given his gift is bare.
by Ray Romine Thursday, December 14, 1950
My heart was more attuned the winter through ,
I think, to what of Nature I could find:
The sun-touched snow that glinted red and blue;
The bird or two pretending not to mind
The icy cold. But now in spite of spring
With opened buds and earthy smell of wood
And flowered field, and birds of fiery wing,
I fail to find the thrill I know I should.
This season, all in all, is better, far–
But has too much of good for our poor minds;
And so it is with you, my dear. You are
Quite like a perfect April day that blinds
The eye, so used is it to life’s Cook Tours
It cannot grasp such loveliness as yours.
by Ray Romine Wednesday, April 11, 1945
Over the river and through the park
To grandmother’s house we go;
The car knows the way, and quite well it may,
Since we go there too often, we know.
For grandmother’s meals are a symphony,
And grandmother’s pies are a treat
The delicatessen her labor doth lessen–
The bakery is just down the street).
Back out the jalopy; heigh ho and away!
Rouse the family from out of its stupor,
For this is the night of the Heavyweight fight–
And grandmother’s TV is super!
by Ray Romine Saturday, June 2, 1951
Though I love my wife I’d leave her
Every spring-time when the fever
Of the wanderlust goes ooursing through my veins;
When the lawn is greening grassily,
Dandelions flashing brassily,
Then I heed the tempting whistle of the trains.
Oh I crave to find me copin’
With the road that’s always open;
There’s desire for mad adventure in my blood;
Give me car or motorcycle–
Oh yes, GAS–well, then a bike’ll
Have to hold me,–Hello, Postman–what’s this, Bud?
Though I didn’t exactly pick it,
Right from here I have the ticket
For the things I may have missed:–it says “1-A”.
Now, though, that my introduction
To adventure means INDUCTION,
Home sounds better, and this poem AIN’T FUNNAY?
by Ray Romine Wednesday, March 29, 1944
If you’re the type who would frolic
In a free sort of way with the colic,
Turn your video set
To the UN and get
Vituperation by Malik.
by Ray Romine Friday, August 25, 1950
A secretary, her boss finds, is
An unpredictable sort of whiz
Who learns to take dictation well
The while she also learns to spell
As well as how to use an eracer*
While said perplexed employer pays ‘er.
[*sic]
by Ray Romine Wednesday, June 23, 1954
There once was a sprightly Committee
That figured a system, through pity,
To trim the luxury tax
By not facing the fax–
Not a practical stunt, but it’a pretty!
by Ray Romine Friday, June 23, 1950
Between the grips, amid debris,
Here go the kids, my wife and me,
To search for something new? Instead,
We’re after fun, good food, a bed,
A place to eat and shave and comb,
And other things we have at home.
by Ray Romine Friday, March 13, 1953