“.....I'm certain I asked for a cowboy one December past--For I wanted the excitement of pioneers to last;I ached to sing with a fiddle, speak with a drawl and twang;I surely requested John Wayne to be part of my gang.Of course I dreamed of a cowboy in those Yuletides of yore--For I wanted that ace, that corral fighter, that scout roar;I ached for the authentic frontier hero of the West;I surely requested the sacred battleground's finest.I did pray Santa'd give me a cowboy some time ago--For I wanted a legend in denim wrangler for beau;I ached to be rounded up safely by my saddled knight;I surely requested I be prospected, mined, settled right...-----excerpted from the poem 'A Cowboy For Christmas' in the book FROM GUAM TO CROWN CITY CORONADO (THANKS TO HERMANN, MISSOURI): A JOURNEY IN POESY, by Mariecor Ruediger”

“There'll be the lightning bugs with their Morse code display,And shooting stars and constellations to befriend;The dragonflies will keep us from going astray,As we search for new adventures 'round every bend.-excerpted from the poem 'The Huge Playroom that is Nature' in the book FROM GUAM TO CROWN CITY CORONADO (THANKS TO HERMANN, MISSOURI): A JOURNEY IN POESY”

“I want to be a cowboy.”“You what?” She laughs and turns to look at him.He runs his hand across the dash board. “This could be my steel horse. And look at me? I could rock a cowboy hat.”“This song’s not about an actual cowboy. It’s about touring with the band.”“It’s open to interpretation.”

“The cowboy music twanged in the roadhouse and carried across the fields, all sadness. It was all right with me. I kissed my baby and we put out the lights.”

“I want to be a cowboy, but only long enough to barge into a saloon and bellow, "Who's the yellowbelly that stole my happy trail?”

“I told you I was a fucking cowboy.”