Selections from Trella Romine's library at Terradise Nature Center
Ray Romine Poems
The alligator’s snout is broad,
The crocodile’s is pointed;
Bugs own six legs, the spiders, eight;
Crustaceans come jointed.
You know birds by their feathers
(Young birds are mostly moss);
Their ears tell you which elephant
You have run across.
The tiger’s coat is mostly stripes;
The leopard’s hide is dotted;
But a skunk you know six blocks away
Without his being spotted…
by Ray Romine Tuesday, October 16, 1951
Though you are not the type who waxes
Sadistic over income taxes,
Show me if you can, incentive
For being industrious or inventive.
We have a nerve; we’re slightly crazy
Who blame our youth for being lazy!
by Ray Romine Thursday, December 13, 1951
To set the beet example
For our kids, we weed and cull
With care our own amusements —
And find life pretty dull.
by Ray Romine Tuesday, December 12, 1950
I have a little Postman
Who, it’s a shame to say,
Comes along with Friday’s mail
On a Saturday.
The mail is dependable;
But what that really means
Is that this month you’re sure of
Last month’s magazines.
That package which I ordered
Via Parcel- post–
Can it be joy-riding ,
Shuttled coast to coast?
With the mail I want so overdue–
How do the Little Bills get through??
by Ray Romine Monday, September 15, 1947
We worked the whole of last year through
To get her past “da-da” and “goo”–
This year we use the tomahawk
To shut her off so we can talk!
by Ray Romine Friday, January 18, 1946
I nominate for obsure burial
The gruesome television aerial;
Long-haired affairs; the must-see show;
The fancy posies some folks grow;
The friends who come here just to kibitz;
Excursions; boatrides; art exhibits;
Long mountain trips; resort vacations;
Fast cars full of starved relations–
I don’t despise these foes of boredom.
It’s just that I cumot afford ’em.
by Ray Romine Friday, September 22, 1950
My verse and I, we have a deal of fun.
Together, ours the colors as the sun
Falls splashing in the paint-pot of the west;
And valiant stars that nightly march abreast
Are ours to share until the night is done.
Then when these stars with morning overrun
Retreat before the dawn that most folks shun,
A new fresh hold on life we manifest,
My verse and I.
This quiet of the day that’s just begun
We call our very own, for then is spun
The poetry that spreads its balm to rest
My work-squeezed mind; and though we can attest
It brings no gold, we are a living one,
My verse and I.
by Ray Romine Monday, January 24, 1944
What is it makes pure water pure?
I am not entirely sure.
What was it happened at the Hague?
My explanation would be vague.
What causes leaves to turn in fall?
I am no botanist, after all.
Metal in the Iron Curtain?
You couldn’t term my answer certain.
The simplest 5th grade rules of grammar
See me hesitate and stammer.
In what I know of protoplasm
There exists a whopping chasm.
Which car to buy? I’d hardly know
Even if I had the dough.
But start an argument about
One of these, and where’s my doubt?
by Ray Romine Friday, October 26, 1951
Two days ago the wrens returned
(You kept me posted through the pain).
Today you saw a dogwood bloom;
Tomorrow I’ll be home again.
Where back paths seek the river’s edge
We’ll stroll there hand in hand, my dear,
To see the changes in a month,
And count the ways the spring is here!
by Ray Romine Thursday, April 29, 1954
My Teddy Bear is company:
He always talks and talks to me
About the weather; what’s for lunch;
Ice cream sodas by the bunch;
Going to the zoo some day;
Whether we’ll go out to play.
He pops ideas from his head
Right up to time to go to bed,
Then, if I am not mistaken,
Says not a word until I waken!
by Ray Romine Sunday, January 13, 1952