Glittering under the final
sparse rays of a winter day

near the end of a year,
rising above it all helps change

our perspective on the place
we think of as home,

as the Nisenan have done
for thousands of years,

basking in golden light long
before this city began its life

in the rush to gold, bordered
by the spine of a river that

shares its name with this place—
something sacred, a mystery,

a solemn oath—this River of
the Most Holy Sacrament,

viewed from on high, moving fast,
ocean bound a hundred miles

downstream, the true home
from whence we all came

and where one day
we will all return.

•••

(With thanks to Hector Amezcua, ace drone pilot and Sacramento Bee photographer,
for this stunning aerial photo of our fair city—looking west over Tower Bridge
and the Sacramento River into West Sacramento—at sunset on Dec. 27, 2025.)