Prickly is a medley of nonacademic, unprofessional poems written by a cantankerous, often drunken cab driver. They range from prose-like narratives to more lyrical poems but are written in plain language. The subjects are taken from Schneider's cab fares who are usually mentally deranged or physically ill and also from his personal life, the domestic life of a below-blue-collar gringo and a Mexican immigrant. There is sex, humor, the occasional rant into the often hypocritical nature of artists and writers, and the thorny beauty of the American Southwest.