Sun God Appears

on the campus of the University
of California at San Diego
among endearing neighbors:
Geisel Library, named for Dr.
Seuss, and cheek by jowl
with John Muir College,
named for the
pioneer naturalist and
ur-ecologist. Niki de
Saint Phalle fecit
1983. Curiously,
Sun God manages
to look both matte
and shiny at the
same time. It is a toy.
A man. A bird.
A woman, a bat.
It evokes Calder in its
“plain speaking.” It
evokes poster paint.
Made of fiberglass,
its innards
mask a steel frame
in the public sculpture
garden, because what
is more public than light.
O, Sun God, shine
on us, we are
covered in gold leaf.