Fresh Meat Fridays #8

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.