When It Rains, These Philly Sidewalks Reveal A Hidden Message

Photo: Next City

From Next City:

As rain falls on certain blocks of the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the sidewalk reveals something surprising. As the pavement gets wet, it displays verses of poetry about the impacts of intensifying neighborhood flooding. Crooked water / Still or rising, one poem reads. Flooding or hushed / Indelible marker on our lives / Photos and memories and precious things / Taken and carried in your rushing flow…

These water-activated rain art and decals feature poems written by Germantown residents, who have been increasingly engaged by the Philadelphia Water Department to determine how the neighborhood will build flood resilience amid a deepening climate crisis.