Heat

~ HOT ~
 2023 City of Phoenix launches Office of Heat Response and Mitigation
https://www.phoenix.gov/heat

Arizona Department of Health Services Heat-Related Illness Dashboard
https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/extreme-weather/heat-safety/index.php#heat-home

World Health Organization - Heatwaves
https://www.who.int/health-topics/heatwaves#tab=tab_1

In a world of cheaply made bargains, the social and commercial determinants of health are not jargon! Thank you for taking the time to listen.  ciao, for now.   

drmichelabull.com

Transcript

Heat:  What’s in a word?

By Michela Bull, DHSc

Heat derives from a Germanic line of word,

Multi-tasking,

it serves as both noun and verb 

Heat makes everyone feel beat…

Heat is the beat on the summer street,

Heat can mean the ultimate surprise,

Heat causes preventable disease and demise

Heat can be the deadbeat

Heat can be the life-saver 

Heat can mean situationally-appropriate when stirred!

Heat can also ensure that thirst, hunger, 

and despair are what’s served 

Heat can mean displaced people 

world-wide left to wander

stateless, homeless 

Around the globe all level of income households

Have wiped foreheads and tried to cool abodes

In search of relief from the heat

As a person, place, or thing, 

the word heat can mean

Pressure per the square inch, thermal energy, law enforcement, 

firearms, cool sneakers, a hot space…

As an action word, heat can mean

heating dinner, heated conversations, 

heated seats, heated homes, 

fires, to keep warm, or fires to flee from

heated to scorching HOT handrails and sidewalks

Heat can mean pressure, 

as in coercion through emotion,

or pressure as in a squeeze… 

Heat is heat-seeking 

when it’s playing adjective

To be in the extreme heat 

Is a critical life-threatening situation, 

no matter one’s fortune, 

or station 

Heat can warm, as in a warmed blanket

Or warm a newborn’s incubator

In Arizona, heat means shapeshifter 

Heat has reshaped few human habits,

yet has reshaped the land

Where once I saw the lush desert flora,

with its unique Sonoran brand

I see the effects of drought, construction, 

and extreme heat! 

How even the sentinel saguaros will curl 

in repulsion to heat’s unrelenting stream…

In cold climates, it’s a different acclimate 

Perhaps, it’s human nature to think about the dangers of the cold,

But many perils about the heat 

have also been foretold,

Without enough clean, fresh water 

hydration cannot be imbibed, donated, or sold,

Does this sound too much like a rant on a heat-seeking scold?

I could not say, 

but hey, the other day

I forced myself to go into a space 

where I rarely volunteer to place 

just to get away from the heat as of late!

It gives me no pleasure, or thrillin’

To inform that chillers in the extreme heat are failin’ 

Units and companies that service them are strugglin’

people are meltin’

And it’s crushed ice, 

not water their guzzlin’!

That’s the only relief, 

in the extreme heat…

I picked up a deceased bird 

that had collapsed from its perch 

in the yard, unheard

It wasn’t the first one, 

it may not be the last, 

but it wasn’t fun 

to have bird’s eye view 

of heat’s furnace blast… 

I rescued a puppy at a 2-freeway gas ‘n sip

I saw a wagging tail as I was making the dip 

so that my vehicle, too could have a sip!

She was covered in filth and she, too 

needed a quench

Her paws were so pink I just couldn’t think 

About how long she had been lost 

After taking long quenching drinks

Her paws, she let soak in the water bowl 

I synced

The heat is hard on humans, 

and on our best friends, 

What did I tell you?  

Heat derives from a Germanic line of word,

Multi-tasking,

It serves as both noun and verb, 

Heat can mean the energy expended and ascribed 

to provide love and comfort, too

Hark! Heat-seekers and heat-solvers:

What does heat mean to you?  

Please describe.