Here pilgrims stand in line
to come before la Moreneta
Catalonia's patroness
the black madonna
robed in gold
with holy child seated upon her lap
while she holds in her hand
a globe - the spiritual universe
she is beyond this world
although her face seems worldly
ready to receive our sorrows
and our heartfelt prayers

Further up the hill
his name restored to Catalan
the cellist Pau Casals
sits with his instrument
his bow in hand
the statue's bronze turned copper green
this native son
also a patron saint
if secular and so out in the open air
while she resides in church
and behind glass

The patron spirit I came there
to honor four decades ago
was also a musician and for me
a saint of the guitar
Fernando Sor who learned his music
here at Montserrat before he had to flee
from Spain a refugee
like so many today who've fled
from war and devastation

The morning after I arrived
I woke in my hotel room
to the sound of folksongs
sung in luscious harmony
voices of men who in past years
were students at the monastery
trained to sing in Montserrat's
rightfully famous choir
hearing this happy music
I sat up in bed and let the sound
wash over me
feeling that I'd arrived and found
what I'd come looking for
the purpose of my pilgrimage