-the "man-about-town" looks into art history.

 this episode: a swatch of Raphael, with a last line contribution from Bob Dylan- 

so I cut a small swatch out of a glossy Phaidon reproduction,

this one from a chubby cherub's forearm in a good-looking Raphael painting.

I set-up outside at the wall near the road for a "man-about-town" street survey.

the question posed to passersby who took the time to stop along their way was:

“what color is this”?

mind you, these were everyday folks tending to their own affairs

on their way home from work or by the looks of some of them,
from foraging for who knows what, and suddenly they're thrust into

the first quarter of the 16th century and this, before they've had their suppers.

––well, as you might guess, a few commuters weren’t very happy,

what with the bottleneck in the flow of homebound traffic, or

their disappointment with the expectation of refreshing, dime-a-pour iced lemonade,
but instead being harassed by a glossy Phaidon swatch cut from the forearm

of a chubby putto, reproduced from a painting birthed by the hand of Raphael.

"What color is this"?!

by-and-large, I’d say the survey's results were instructive. most of those responding
as to the color of the swatch said: "Pink"––

while a few others answered: "Beige" and after a short period of contemplation,

an old neighborhood chum decided on: "Khaki".

––but one guy in a fancy new Jeep responded by saying: "Flesh"!

which caught me off-guard and got me to thinking....

"whattaya do about Willie Mays, Martin Luther King, Olatunji...."