Thirst
Where broken clouds lay dripping
On the edges of the afternoon
Our footprints littered summer’s beach
Abandoning lying driftwood
Torn pictures old letters and the death-buzz
Of flies against the murderous dunes
Returning was to die of thirst
Or see the sun possessed descend
And dive past wet horizons
From Tau by Philip Lamantia and Journey to the End by John Hoffman, edited by Garrett Caples © 2008 by City Lights and Nancy Peters for the Estate of Philip Lamantia. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books.