The Polk Museum

The Tampa Orchid

Two orchids. One gray against black,
the other blue against silver.
Constrasts. Like rich and poor,
darkness and light. What does
the contrast mean? I don't know.
Gray might be lifelessness and depression.
Blue might be vitality and life. Black could
represent darkness, silver light. Contrasts,
like black and white, strength and weakness.
Again, what does it mean? I don't know but
contrasts are wonderful things. How boring
the world would be if everything and everyone
were the same? Contrasts and differences give
the world spice and excitement. I believe God
meant it to be this way for He is a God of contrast:
human yet divine; loving but capable of righteous
anger. A God of contrasts, therefore, enjoys a world
of contrasts. But again, the tampa orchid, one gray
on black, the other blue on silver. What was the photographer's
purpose making it so? I am sure I do not know.

I went to the Polk Museum of Art for this assignment and stayed for at least forty minutes. The museum was a very interesting trip. I expected to only see paintings but I was surprised to see other things there as well. I looked at several Japanese kimonos, pieces of pottery, and bonsai trees as well as paintings. On the second floor I saw several photos that kept my attention for several minutes. Each photo depicted a family posing outside with their household items. Each family was from a different part of the world and most were of low economic status. Beside each photo was a plaque which included information about each family, such as how
many hours a week the parents worked and the family's most valuable possession. Reading these plaques made me rather sad. One family's plaque said they had no possessions of value, while another said they had no wishes for the future, probably because their economic situation was so bad the family didn't expect anything to elevate them even slightly. Two plaques stated that the family were their most valuable possession. These photos struck me because it made me realize anew that not everyone is so fortunate as to have a decent home or a nice car constantly at their disposal. It was good to see a glimpse of families who live outside America and to get a bit of history, of sorts, about other cultures. The photo of the tampa orchid, the subject of my "poem," was one of two works that caught my attention and which I kept returning to. The contrasting colors made a good effect on the overall work. The contrasting colors, in fact, was the detail that caused me write the "poem" about that particular work. I would have taken a picture of it and probably posted it on my blog if taking photos inside the museum hadn't been prohibited.