Category: Conversation

Unfortunately, sometimes for you,
Freedom of Speech includes him too.

by Ray Romine Saturday, September 23, 1950

There was a very little
Of anything to say,
For I was quite aware that I
Had given me away.

And still I talked and prattled on,
A wordy, rushing fount;
And though I weighed my words each one,
It is the eyes that count.

by Ray Romine Monday, August 12, 1946

“Take it from me–” I will bar
This from MY speech, for they are.

by Ray Romine Saturday, August 25, 1951

My speech is vague and hard to catch;
My diction stinks; my adverbs match.
My metaphors are mixed (or rotten)
And syntax is a thing forgotten;
Also, I split, one might surmise,
Infinitives for exercise.
But when I speak in manner slanderous,
I am very understanderous.

by Ray Romine Friday, March 16, 1951

When I am right, I go headlong.
Of this trait, though, I’m
When I am absolutely wrong
That’s when I argue loudest.

by Ray Romine Saturday, July 1, 1950

The words with which young lovers part
Nauseously strike me;
And now I know why, from the start,
My in-laws didn’t like me.

by Ray Romine Sunday, August 20, 1950

The tender names which lovers call
Each other form the start of all
Existence, and why not–I chalk
Up all they say as baby-talk….

by Ray Romine Sunday, August 20, 1950

I will minimize your worries
In a hale unruffled tone;
I will halve your mental flurries–
While I’m quadrupling my own.

by Ray Romine Tuesday, October 2, 1951

Give it to me straight, and feel
Free to talk; don’t spare the horses;
I’ll be penitent, and we’ll
Get back on our normal courses.

by Ray Romine Saturday, August 25, 1951

Don’t think I’m hinting,
And don’t think me rude,
Nor starving, exactly,
If I mention food.

Don’t regard me as selfish,
Nor too near the top–
Nor worried about it,
If I should talk shop.

And don’t mistake interest
Please, for consternation
If I get the weather
In my conversation.

And I ask you, don’t think I
Believe I can fix
Every wrong in the world
If I talk politics.

To sum up, don’t read
Some excessively bum thing
Into what I say:
One must talk about SOMEthing!

by Ray Romine Tuesday, February 5, 1952