A runner plagued
by endless thirst,
tried all manner of things
to end the curse.
A camel bag or bottle
slowed his pace.
His yen for simple,
lasting relief, became a race -
Relentless!
Seeing smooth pebbles
in the bed of a stream,
he took a pea-sized one;
stowing it under his tongue.
His saliva flowed;
his thirst was gone, up-aweigh!
Until the bump, the trip;
the slip from tongue -
Breathless!