That red sun gleams over Alapattah
Snugged between buildings and the potholes
Filling up the highway

It’s cold for us down here today
But the city doesn’t sleep

So, I wonder about what’s underneath,
As people walk, and chickens strut
Tapping on asphalt.

But what was underneath?
Before cruise ships taxied out the harbor,

When the Everglades ran right up
To that cool teal salty water
And the alligator outnumbered us.

But who are we, here right now,
Not them who lived here first

What is underneath besides coral bedrock
And tears of the people whose land this was
I wonder was it cheap?

Or was it stolen at bargain price?
But now the light turns green…

And we pull into my mother in laws driveway
Leaving me to wonder about a city not asleep
And think to myself about what’s underneath.