Warts and All: An Ekphrastic Pondering
Sagacious-eyed, panoptic lumpy godsend
Primordial, a polar sprout, a forked tooth.
A state unplaced, outside of time, alleged,
A boulder rests, that’s bold yet bland. A rough sleuth
Ingests all dust ingredients to swirl cake,
Its vortex cached with ev’ry seasoned spice sooth.
In petroglyphic fashion, fetish-carved cast
Beyond a culture’s judgment, baking new storms.
Its aura calls our hungry throats to chance, take;
Affirms, in squib-primed shell, a way to transform,
By palp of potent nubs, a germination
Of lilies joined with blood red roses’ thorns —
To shape beyond our dry-boned fascination
A new perspective for Our Human Nation.
Dora is today’s host for dVerse’ Poetics Tuesday. Today Dora wants us to write about stone. Thank you, Dora, for your prompt, as it inspired me to try a more challenging form. Stone always gets my poetry appetite whetted.
The form is Terza Rima Sonnet.
As soon as I read Dora’s prompt, my mind went to looking for stone sculptures installed at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. I found eight to choose from. “Warts and All” spoke to me. Learn more about the sculptor and his sculpture below.
Warts and All
Peter Randall-Page’s artistic practice has consistently been shaped and inspired by his study of natural phenomena in its vast variety. His more recent work has increasingly focused on the fundamental principles governing growth and emergent forms. Warts and All is an eroded glacial granite boulder, carved with geometric patterns that suggest a giant seedpod, fungi spore or bacteria. Of his exploratory work, Randall-Page says:
“Geometry is the theme on which nature plays her infinite variations and can be seen as a kind of pattern book on which the most complex and sophisticated structures are based.”
Peter Randall-Page, Warts and All, 2006, stone and wood timbers, 58.5 x 88 x 49 in., Gift of Fred and Lena Meijer
Tao-Talk 
How terribly bold, Lisa, I mean the imagination that crafted this sculpture and your sonnet lines that take us out of ourselves — our “Human” selves” — and place us squarely in the realm of what surrounds us, giving us “eyes” to see the panopticon of bursting life around us. What we are a part of. Visionary. I like how you whetted your words on this stone.
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<3 <3 <3 Your feedback is appreciated. The poem was made possible by your prompt, my friend.
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You’re amazing. Thank you, Li.
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<3
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I love to revisit the sculpture park again, it is such an interesting stone work.
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I’ve strolled by it many times. I’m actually going there this afternoon and will stop to say hello.
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Such a wonderful piece inspired by this amazingly crafted sculture, Lisa! 👍☺️
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Thanks so much Aptivi!
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My pleasure, Lisa! Have a wonderful September! ☺️
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Very nice Lisa! The boulder feels like some ancient artifact, god, seed, and mystery all at once. I especially like that final idea of transforming our perspective. Splendid! much love! 🧡
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Cara, I like what you see in it. Thank you very much <3
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An amazing stone sculpture and an amazing ekphrastic pondering, Lisa. I especially love the phrases ‘panoptic lumpy godsend’ and ‘polar sprout’, and the way you imagined its transformation.
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