Randall McNair
Oct 31, 20201 min
Petrosomatoglyphs (Images of Body Parts Found in Rock)
Is there any part of the devil’s body
that has not been used to name
some feature of the American topography…
--from “Colorado” by Billy Collins
The Devil’s Elbow seems to be most common,
followed closely by his backbone, tail and foot.
It seems to me I remember seeing the Devil’s
Big Toe on a trip through Arizona, although
I may be mistaking it with his buck tooth.
There are the Devil's Talons in St. Pancras chapel
at St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, although
a chapel isn’t really a part of the topography
so, scratch that. The Devil’s Path, an arduous
east-to-west passage along the spine of the Catskills,
while undoubtedly apt, doesn’t really
name a body part, nor does
the Devil’s Den which, while a great name
for a state park, is likely too foul-smelling
and shabby to be of use here.
No, I think it may be best to just tell you about
the two giant red boulders that I saw
one drunken, hot-as-hell evening outside of Las Vegas,
the Devil's Eye of the sun blazing above them,
that looked an awful lot like his nut sack.