Bed of Sphinxes

Allen Ginsberg wrote that Philip Lamantia was one of his poetic teachers, an American soothsayer on the level of Edgar Allen Poe, and I don't know how much more encouragement you'd need to check out this stunning collection. "The Owl" ("the dark steps I climb are lit up / by his Eye magnetic to the moon") is brilliant and evocative, and fairly typical of the level of writing to be found here. Visionary, lyrical, and hypnotic.