“4th of July in Sonoma”

Title: (General) Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
Sculpture: Life sized bronze likeness of General Vallejo
Year Created: 2017
Sculptor: Jim Callahan
Photo credit: Jim Callahan

The morning parade is always fun
Under the warm Sonoma sun.
The square is lined
With people of every kind
And shops and trucks
And food and wine and ducks.
Nothing says red, white and blue
Like a sizzling summer barbeque,
But the fireworks show always is
The part I never want to miss!

Near General Vallejo’s home,
Blanketed in dusk and fleece
In the grassy field we lay.
The General is never here,
He is always in the square
Even when the fireworks bright
Melt away the dark of night.
Loud crackling fills the air
And patterns of light
Burst now here, now there
Ending the festivities with flair.

Then all who are gathered,
disperse; homeward bound,
Except for one who is always found
Seated on that special park bench,
Surveying all around him.
He knows not day, nor night
As another 4th of July comes and goes;
He just sits tall and stays his ground,
Holding steady his own proud pose.