Selections from Trella Romine's library at Terradise Nature Center
Ray Romine Poems
Sombrero, chaps, and six-guns–he’s outfitted
To see that Law and Order are outwitted.
Ads, television, movies, serve to spur him;
Equipment limitations don’t deter him.
His fine white horse! There is no limitation
When one is six and has imagination.
The chairs are mountains, and we get it dinned in
To us the floor lamp is a painted Indian.
He swaggers on, a really big-time Baddie
(Until he needs, say, fifty cents from daddy).
by Ray Romine Sunday, March 11, 1951
John took his Duroc to the fair,
And won a huge blue ribbon there;
But it made the sav snooty,
Who told him, “Look, cutey,
It’s more than that I’ll need to wear!”
by Ray Romine Thursday, April 1, 1954
When my disgust for your poor brain
Seems to be intensest,
Take heart, my friend; that, it is plain,
Means I am at MY densest!
by Ray Romine Monday, September 10, 1951
While summer was welcomed, feted, and spoiled,
And schemes to hold her here with us were foiled
When she kissed us and hurried away,
Here comes winter, dragging and old,
Wizened, unwanted, cranky and cold,
And announces a six-months’ stay!
by Ray Romine Saturday, April 7, 1951
While I hate being awkaard, if you’ll pardon me,
I have a confession–I don’t mind gaucherie.
Ignore my indifference, friend; kindly say
That I’m not really bored, I am only blasé.
If when dinner is served, I too quickly respond,
And you’re really discerning, I am a gourmand.
Should a major success ever dog my steps (ha!)
Say of me then I have pulled an éclat.
And should I seem kittenish, carrying on,
Don’t condemn me too quickly–I’m full of élan.
You may call me a square, a no-good, or a moron,
So you dog it up fancy by making it foron!
by Ray Romine Sunday, February 14, 1954
I get me there
While seats are good.
The wait is long;
The seat is wood.
All is serene;
The view is clear-
I shouldn’t miss
A thing from here…
The action starts:
The show is on.
The mob has moved:
The view is gone.
I change my seat;
I’ll try again…
The mob decides
To stand up then.
I sit back, sigh
In blind submission,
And see again!–
(It’s intermission).
To this conclusion
I am led:
The show was fine-
Somebody said.
by Ray Romine Tuesday, August 22, 1950
The time is fast approaching when
Sales-folk must use their tact again
To hold at, say, non-hoarding distance
The customer’s own sales-insistence.
by Ray Romine Friday, September 15, 1950
I push at the napkin container with care,
And extract shoppers’ bundles from my ribs and hair;
At the holder of menus I gingerly shove.
Why can’t it, like the Specials, hang down from above?
The sugar bowl crowds me, the pepper and salt
Glare balefully at me, but is it my fault,
Who must manage his coffee, utensils and plate
On a spot that is roughly four inches by eight?
But at least my blonde waitress encounters no lie
When I answer her question with “No ROOM for pie!”
by Ray Romine Sunday, March 9, 1952
Are you the type who loudly thunders
At other folks’ colossal blunders,
But who assumes a softer tone
At “little errors” of his own?
Don’t let the thing unsettle you;
The rest of us are that way too!
by Ray Romine Saturday, November 8, 1952
There may be some things we don’t know about words,
Such as which adjectives in the language are strongest,
Or which will endure; but we’re certainly sure
That the Word We Will Hear From Our Sponsor is longest!
by Ray Romine Sunday, March 18, 1951