Not all heat is made equal.
Between streets stained
red with the indelible ink
of discrimination,
the clammy embrace
of federal excess
can still be felt.
Microclimates persist as
green gentrification
plasters over the excesses
of historic housing policies,
pacifying those who can
now afford it
with promises of
shaded sycamores and
miniature boating lakes.
Redlines don’t fade, they just
coalesce into stripes –
their bulging contours falling
outside the peripheral vision
of the purposefully blind.
A 1936 ‘residential security’ map of Philadelphia, classifying various neighbourhoods by estimated riskiness of mortgage loans.
This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that historical housing disparities in the United States are linked with dangerous climate impacts.
Recent research has shown that extreme heat
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