No Picnic in the Park

Christina Chin

Authors: Christina Chin and Marjorie Pezzoli

Bio:

Christina Chin is a painter and haiku poet from Malaysia. She is a four-time recipient of top 100 in the mDAC Summit Contests, exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center, California. 1st prize winner of the 34th Annual Cherry Blossom Sakura Festival 2020 Haiku Contest. 1st prize winner in the 8th Setouchi Matsuyama 2019 Photohaiku Contest. She has been published in numerous journals, multilingual journals, and anthologies, including Japan's prestigious monthly Haikukai Magazine.

Marjorie Pezzoli

Marjorie Pezzoli is a silk painter over 30 years, a visual artist, storyteller, and haikuist. Her writings cover joy, hope, grief, and cosmic wonders. Nature is a huge inspiration. Since 2019 her poems have been published in numerous poetry anthologies and online journals. Her work deals with grief, hope, earth stewardship, and cosmic wonders. Photos taken while out walking Beau, the dog with Betty Davis eyes, inspires much of her work. Marjorie looks for words worth more than a thousand images.  wwwPezzoliart.com 

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“No Picnic in the Park” is double split sequence using two seed poems

Our haiga, a visual poem, incorporates Christina’s bird illustration and my photographs of “Fault Whisper”, a sculpture by Po Shu Wang. 

This is a large-scale art installation above The Rose Canyon Fault which runs between the two giant metal spheres. When you look through one sphere, the other lines up perfectly in view. If there was ground movement, you would be able to detect it by looking through the spheres. When you look through one sphere, the other lines up in perfect view. If the ground has shifted, one would be able to detect that by looking through these sculptures at San Diego’s Fault Line Park.

San Diego has a homeless population, as all cities do. Many set up space on streets near the park and have to relocate their belongings from time to time. Christina and I chose to bring this issue forward in our poetry. Both bird and man need a place to rest and call home. This is an experimental piece with a second seed poem to continue the split sequence, which is why I showcased them and unaltered art above the “blanket collage”. - Marjorie Pezzoli

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soaring temperatures

night beneath

the cool skyline

Christina Chin

crack of dawn

looking for worms

they whisper- please   

Marjorie Pezzoli

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No Picnic in the Park

 

soaring
temperatures
 
cement cracks
who is at fault?
an egg hatches

 

night beneath
 
seeking nests
them and sparrows
no place to rest
 
the cool skyline

 

threadbare
the frayed edges

of Oxfam blankets   

 

Christina Chin
Marjorie Pezzoli

 

 

crack of dawn
 
the queues

at the public water

taps longer

 

looking for worms

 

the great divide
tents or apartments
a spray painted mural
 
they whisper- please

 

bent over
and hungry
just another day

 

Marjorie Pezzoli

Christina Chin

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Setu, July 2024