If you like what you see here, I hope that you'll tell me.
You can either stick around and browse or you can return to the Main Page
If you're interested in readin' the dull, boring stuff about me, or, if you are self-flagellant enough to want to see a picture, then click here.
If you're interested in checking out where I work, here is a link to the Region 1 office of the
This is some of the stuff I do when I have time...like write stories and poems.
Believe it or not, every single one of these short stories is based on a true incident. All right, I admit that they have all been fictionalized, but I find that the subjects that inspire most of my writing are real, and not imagined. Guess I'm not really very creative, huh?
Eatin' Weeds. is a "yard yarn".
The Badge and Queenie Letters (a collection of eight short stories)
A Small Taste of Medicine was the very first short story I ever wrote, and I think it's still my favorite.
Tube Be or Not Tube Be is another story about a medical procedure.
Notch Your Average Old Car is told from Gator's perspective (since the story actually happened to him).
Escapades resulted from a weekend trip to see Michelle when she was living in El Paso.
What's Hot, and Watts Not deals with a power failure.
A Class Act is a very dark piece. I was just trying my wings, and I didn't like flying this way, so I quit writin' serious stuff.
The Project was written for one of my sons.
The Quest This one, along with "Amateur Night" (below) marked my return to writing after a very long "hiatus".
If you like meter and rhyme, then check out this webring.
Now you can look at some of my stuff. These first two poems are some of my first efforts. They were written in the winter of 1993.
Mary Sullivan "the Onion", maintains a web realm devoted to rhyme and meter poetry. If you like meter and rhyme, (and fun) then this site is for YOU! Many of my poems on this page are duplicated there, but there is much more fun stuff than mine on the P.O.E.M.S. site. Check it out and look at one of the "issues". You can "subscribe" from this link, if you like what you see. We'd love ta meetcha!
As you will soon see, the folks that I have met through Mary have stirred my creative (albeit corny) juices. "Bubba", who is the country boy alter-ego of "Badge" (of the Badge and Queenie Letters), is the "author" of these poems (unless otherwise noted). I sincerely thank all the other folks who have graciously allowed me to shamelessly filch their stuff and put it here.
Now, we're getting into the real fiction. A good number of the following poems are intended to be humorous, and exaggeration is the essence of my humor.
The West Texas Sled Team (talk about "dog-ger-el")
Texas Sledder a response from a friend (Perry L. Williams, AKA Willie) to The West Texas Sled Team. Incidentally, Willie is the person who introduced me to the "Onion". I don't reckon that Mary will ever forgive him.
Correction of An A-bear-ation was written in response to a "punny" group of poems about hymns.
Pioneer Spirit was written after Mary received comments from her "pen pals"
about her lamentations of the hardships of a power failure.
Again, I implore you to check out "The Pine-Ear Woman Chronicles"
on her page.
Cold Beer was written because Frank Halliwell, one of Mary's "pen pals",
teased her about not having a way to keep the beer cold during the
power failure. Check out Frank's "web page".
Ode to Roland was written when Mary told me about having to take
her sewing machine to the shop.
Texas Veracity was written about an allusion from a poet named Don Tidwell
(AKA "Tater") regarding the tendency of Texans like me to
exaggerate. Tater's response came forthwith by Email. Then, a
"fibstorm" got started between me and "Tater".
Check out "Tater's" Home Page
The Flatlander's Lament resulted from the comments from a plethora of folks
who seemed to agree with "Tater".
Boots was written for Mary after she commented on the way that
"Willie" (Perry Williams, who wrote "Texas Sledder") looked when
he dropped in to visit with Mary and Fred. Mary referred
to Willie's "pointy-toed Tony Lamas" until Fred reminded her that
Tony Lama only manufactures round toed boots.
Cowboyin' was written for Chuck Sullivan , another of the "pen pals"
who had commented (in rhyme) that he wanted to write "cowboy"
style poetry, but was unfortunately domiciled in the city.
Chuck maintains a "web page" full of "poems for poem haters".
Cloud Chasin' resulted from a trip away from home.
That durn "Tater" responded with one of his own delights before I
could even get my poem formatted correctly. And then, here comes
Willie with a "cloud poem" of his own. Naturally, I responded right
back to him. Finally, not to be outdone, Willie put a stop (Ha!) to
this thread of foolishness.
A Big Moose-take is another dern "Fibstorm" that resulted from the
mind of Gerry Busch, a loyal Saskatchewaner from Moose Jaw.
Natcherly, "Mac", the concrete statue of a moose that Gerry
described, had his name changed several times before everybody
agreed on a consensus...but that's not the whole story...
Bubba Does Bandera was written for "Ace" Ron Waters, who was there when it happened, and immortalized it with a drawing.
Cookin' Chores and Games are both meter 'n' rhyme versions of old cowboy yarns.
Shoot-out at the Hot Air Corral Uh, oh! Ol' Bubba's made dern near everybody mad, this time!
All of this tongue-in-cheek antagonism inspired Chuck Sullivan to post a wanted placard on the world wide web.
One of the instigators of the "Shoot-out" fibstorm was Shelby Forrest, who is a retired public school administrator for whom I've developed an abiding respect since I've known him. I have included his poem The Beginning Is Also The End on this page because it very accurately reflects my own views, and Shelby said it better than I could have. Check out more of Shelby's work at his web site.
Rex Tyler, one of the P.O.E.M.S.ters from England, made a comment that he wanted to join Bubba and Willie's "gang", and this "fibstorm" resulted.
The "Desparte-oddos" fibstorm evolved (as they usually do) into a string of verse about that mythical flying creature Pigasus.
The Princess and the Plowman Warning! Not meter and rhyme! This
collection of five pieces was written as an allegory revolving
around a profound relationship in my life and my attempts to
deal with the dissolution of that relationship. Composing
this dark, yet cathartic, work caused such emotional upheaval,
and I included it here because it means a lot to me.