Why have you given up drinking? Are you unaware
that non-drinking is a corrosive
and habit-forming habit
unbecoming to a gentleman
and likely to turn him into a rabbit?

I live in the desert. I drank much
to dissolve the sand in my stomach.
I found that sand was insoluble in alcohol.
I took to drinking vinegar, rainwater, buttermilk, and various coloured inks.
My digestion still suffered.
I gave up drinking and took to Existentialism.

Now I am the desert, the sand, and the Sphinx,
and if there is any more drinking to be done, the drinks
are on the Sphinx.