The seeds we planted in the spring
Came up, grew just so high, and– bing!
That’s because they don’t need mowing;
The lawn, I note, continues growing.
by Ray Romine Wednesday, April 5, 1950
Category: Poems
Ray Romine Poems
Garden Epitaph
Here lies, beneath those waist-high weeds,
The outcome of my spring-sown seeds;
And, buried after one brief spasm,
Lies also my enthusiasm.
by Ray Romine Sunday, May 21, 1950
Gadget Salesmen: Please Note
When they invent the Time Machine,
How it–with me–will rate:
I’ll move it up to those retorts
I think of just too late!
by Ray Romine Wednesday, January 15, 1947
G. I. Thanksgiving
“What’s that?” he said, “You’ve sympathy for me?
Then keep it –I don’t need it . See that fellow
Four beds down? We were in the same engagement;
He’ll never see again. He was an artist, before,
Doing well. You know what he says?
He says he can still see sunsets , and hills of goldenrod ,
And stuff like that , in his mind’s eye, sort of;
And even if he can’t paint , he can still dictate
His impressions. So, he’s going to be a writer!
A WRITER? And he’s thankful just for that ,
Honestly thankful!
Me? I can learn again to write, and draw , and do things–
I’ve only lost my writing arm; I have another,
And BOTH EYES!
This is my twenty-first Thanksgiving; and the first one
I’ve ever been truly thankful for my blessings.
No , I don’t really need your sympathy,
But thanks anyway.”
And I have all my faculties:
How do I stack up with chaps like these?
(1st Prize, Ohio, NTA Contest, 1944)
Announced May 12, 1945
by Ray Romine Wednesday, October 4, 1944
Futile Doodle
The marks we make while ‘phoning
Show character, it’s claimed.
If this is true, then this is too:
Most minds aren’t warped, they’re maimed.
by Ray Romine Monday, September 12, 1949
Fussin’ and a-Fusion and a-Fission
How scientists can get that smart
Is quite beyond my ken;
They chisel atoms all apart
And fuse ’em back again.
The stupid-complex they have brought
To laymen such as me
Is saved by this consoling thought:
No two of them agree.
by Ray Romine Monday, March 27, 1950
Fur Peace
Furs must be given their right names after February 1 under a new law which will be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission
… News Note
At long long last we men shall see
Which of the girls have spunk
By noting who will wear it when
A skunk is called a skunk.
by Ray Romine Saturday, August 25, 1951
Fun House?
“Emergency ban considered on the construction of race tracks,
dance halls, bowling alleys, and other amusement spots…”
…News item
Our amusement will manage to carry on-
After all, we huve the Pentagon.
by Ray Romine Friday, October 20, 1950
Full-Up
Whatever future holds for me of sorrow,
Variety I’m sure of, anyway,
As I’m forever waiting on tomorrow
To do the things I ought to do today.
by Ray Romine Friday, April 27, 1945
Frustration
By traffic’s tangled snarl held fast,
I see a stretch of street at last!
I trod upon the gas–Oh NO!
That sign–“School Zone,” it says, “Go slow.”
by Ray Romine Wednesday, November 1, 1950