Today’s post is a poem by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt:
Summer burns the desert floor
Heat escapes a bitumen covered landscape in the middle of the night
As the urban heat island effect grips the Valley
In fifty years our nights have grown hotter
Twelve degrees hotter
Air-conditioned boxes buzz constant through the night
Just wait until October they say
Sun shine is welcome here but
Few trees stand to protect wandering souls
A six inch curb is no relief from widened streets
As automobiles exceed the speed limit hurrying to nowhere particular
Endless pavement spanning miles
Driving longer getting nowhere
Arizona burns Brewer fiddles
Monsoon storms leave heavy traces
Wind
Dust
Maybe rain
Maybe not
But we know that hope is coming
A sustaining movement has arrived
The status quo will no longer suffice
Old ways must move aside
A green revolution is underway
You’re reading this
It must be true
Asphalt pyre
Bird on Fire
Photo Credit: Street art by Banksy. Photo courtesy of the author.
Tags: automobile culture, bird on fire, kirby hoyt, phoenix, phoenix monsoons, sustainable movement in phoenix, twelve degrees hotter, urban heat island effect
