Marlena Maduro Baraf

Marlena Maduro Baraf

Farrow and Ball, “White Tie”

Paper white with a hint of yellow and a minor complication of brown to bind it to earth. Used often for trim on houses, it takes on a supporting role to vibrant hues and complex muted ones. The Phalaenopsis white orchid, sturdy and bold, anchors the sideboards in New York City model apartments with views of the river. The coarse petals and sepals are shot with sparkles like stardust. If you look at the underside you will see a blush of mauve or pink and faint transparencies of the green of their bud birth.

Daniel picks the white star studded orchid for the drama, the size of the gesture that says I love big. I love you with flair. I am a good guy. He loads the love with variegated purple varieties, blossoms articulated with symmetrical fuchsia fingers and bloody throat. What is the underside of a giant nautilus shell? Is it the flaky, chalky exterior drying in the sun? Or the glossy intermittently reflective pink of its mouth? Even the underbelly of a weathered cement pot bleaches from grey to almost white on the inside belly next to the old soil. The years drip off my fingernails. We churn and become the underside. And the other side, bold and transparent, supporting and dominant.