I wish to write an Ekphrastic poem about an art painting, which depicts a woman standing within a panorama of color, with tints of yellow, gray, blue, purple, green, white — and flesh.  Though “flesh” may not be an official color, it dominates the portrait space.  An unclad woman stands facing front, so the observer sees only her back side, discreetly covered in pastel paints to conceal certain features, while showing others.  Her hair is wrapped in a high updo on her head, and her arms appear folded across her body in the front, possibly with her hands covering her invisible breasts in a display of modesty.

After considering a number of possible approaches, some titillatingly inappropriate, I settled on writing through the eyes of a budding, playful art student, who arrived late for class, thus obtaining the last seat in the studio.  Lets read what the pretend artist had to say:  

Arriving late for class,
My stool choice reduced 
To the only one left — 
Ample but, a rear view. 

I surveyed the bare scene 
To set up my palette: 
Flesh colors, a dark brown,
Yellow for light, some blue. 

Where to begin depends 
On one’s point of view. 
A frontal peer may start
Higher than from the back. 

A quick outline of form 
Brings focus to the rump, 
Well balanced, some jiggle 
With an ad-libbed scratch. 

In the end, I opted 
To mute her derrière 
With various pastels 
To titillate senses, 

And Imagination 
Of opulent cleavage 
Not viewable from 
My rear end seat.