welcome at the feast

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

banquet
Robert Montgomery


yearning to share
a door flung open
and out of the ancient halls
comes music divine.

Sweet billowing songs
of gratitude
echo throughout
this sacred place
too long held silent
and waiting.

words come
together
wanting to weave
beauty
wanting to stretch
open
the close fisted heart
of a frightened world.

sometimes this process
hurts and I can feel
the weeping inside myself.
Tears for the world
and grief
for not caring enough.

Is this evil?
Is this the force
which attempts
to take me
from God's right hand?
petty worry...
senseless desire...
dull pain?

to remember
fills the halls again
with rapturous music
and the gentle knowing
of my Lord's smile
always the choice...
always the table set
and waiting for
me to be seated.

the discipline of peace...

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Discipline
Robert Montgomery


Man has become waiters in time.
Marking the days.
We count down to events
only to pass them by
en route to another destination.

Sometimes we linger
and time slows to a heartbeat.
Beyond plans and definitions.
These pauses are ironically
the life we are searching for.

Everything else is movement
away from paradise.
For such is found within
and the spasms of the outer world
so many times blind us.

Can we live without and within?
Surely for God means us to be happy in physical form.
Yet this takes discipline
and a commitment to retrain the mind’s thinking.

Finding our inner voice opens all of life to us.
Suddenly the connection are clear
and we see beyond time and space
to the unity of all which is truth.

Why, how, when, where…
all become so many scattered petals
on the breeze of our Holy mind.
For where all is one
there are no questions.

Pausing to Remember...

_________________________

_________________________

remember
Robert Montgomery


remember...
the sky
and the promise
of sun drenched
tomorrows

remember...
laughter
and the echo
of play filled
yesterdays

remember...
the dawn
and the glory
of each newborn
morning

remember...
moonlight
and the reflection
of silver etched
evenings

remember...
children
and the beauty
of untouched
innocence

remember...
wisdom
and the lessons
left along the road
before you

remember...
truth
and the song
resounding
within you

remember...
the way
home.

Inspiration...

Celestial Skies
Robert Montgomery


Celestial skies
cloudy, gray,
with bits of blue
peeking through.
Heaven looking down
as we slumber
in a colorless dream.

I sit here
as always
these hands
before me
these eyes
searching out
what?

How can I seek
when I am here?
What can be looked for
where all is found?

Riddles of life
keeping me moving
when the secret lies
in stillness.

All the world
its flow
and tantrums
roll about me.

Yet I am
the eye of this storm.
I am
the expector
of these images.

I close my eyes.
Is the world still there?
I change my mind.
Is it still true?

Living in the moments
between the questions.
Picking words
as fruit from the vine.

Sweet nectar
ripe and waiting.
My soul
awaiting
this attention.

Giving myself
to the flow
of my desire.
Not editing
or worrying about
content.

Does the vine
worry of its blossoms?
Does the river
chart its course?

Now above
the skies begin to open.
Bright pieces of light.
Cracks in the gray.

Reminding me
of the Watcher
Who sees all
and is always with me.

As I look up
the light moves
into these eyes
and I am above
and below
without
and within.

Breathing myself
into the blessed
connection
with sight
sound,
color and texture
creation and destruction.

I sit here
as always
this soul
searching
reaching out
for communion.

Listen to the children...

_____________________________________

Visionary
Robert Montgomery


Vision
belongs to the children
yet we teach them
to grow up...
put it away.


Following
but never leading
we walk the road
laid out for us...
not realizing
we could imagine
a new one.


The children
are our future
not because
they are tomorrow's
adults
rather...
they are today's
visionaries.


What they teach us
can move us
into a new world.


The question remains...
will we listen?

Finding the child inside...

_________________________________

Childlight
Robert Montgomery


time in the sun
laughter sprinkled
along my forgotten
fantasy
so long
distant
childhood echoes
dusty in the afternoon
haze.

so much magic
in that remembered
illusion
haunting in its
complex simplicity
just out of focus
somewhere beyond
my reach.

I can see
there through it all
with me
on that playground
long ago
that boy
so knowing
and yet
so very afraid...

I can feel
there
that familiar
arm
always
about my shoulders
touching my soul
when I felt
so very alone...

Where is he
that boy
who knew so much
who felt
so deeply
who suffered
the pain
of so many
confused angels?

Here he sits
smiling from deep
inside me
filling me up
with the wisdom
of an innocent
ripped open
by the world's
suffocating
denial.

His eyes
look out and see
confused
angels
mighty
regal
in their
pure
focused
passion.

I see
the angels
every day
in the war
etched faces
of the prematurely
mature
children
I am so blessed
to know.

On time...

Suspension
Robert Montgomery


Time slows
To sunlight through trees
Warm upon my face
Forgotten and remembered
These echoes of eternity
Laughing away care
In valleys of dew
Freshly kissed
By the day

Time yawns
To stretch this breath
Up and through me
Vision expanded
Taking me upwards
And outwards until
I float as
Summer petals white
On this ancient breeze

Time suspends
To capture perfection
A crystal of knowing
Deep inside me
It sings of wisdom
And courage
It shines with strength
And compassion
Within me

Time teaches
To hold precious
This heartbeat
Shared with history
All lies within
And without
Above and below
Expanding to embrace
A life of true vision.

Heaven's Heart

____________________________________________________________________

I love this picture. It says everything.

heaven is waiting
Robert Montgomery


every moment
is creation.
every breath
a chance
to do things
differently.

We search
for secrets...
keys which will
open the doors
to our captive
dreams.

seemingly made
of iron
cast deep
in the cauldron
of eternity...

Ours are dreams held
at someone else's mercy.

Yet if we only
were to look
deeply
we would see
the face
behind the mask.
we would see
the face
of our captor...

for it is ourselves.

In any moment
we are given
the choice.
In any moment
we can decide
to let our passion
and joy
run free...
until the world
is drenched
in the unbridled
glow
of happiness.

The birds
already sing.
the light
already plays
golden
against the wind
blown leaves.

It is a world
constantly calling
for our participation...
asking us
to join
the dance.

Will we make
the choice for joy
or for pain?
for surely either
will be reflected
onto a weary world
too long held
in the bondage
of our confusion.

the answers
cry out to us
in every moment...
ancient secrets
played out on the
gentle summer
breeze.

stop and listen...
the birds are singing.
Will we join
the chorus
or will ours
be the cry
of anguish
before the falling
blow
of the executioner?

it is our choice...
heaven is waiting.


___________________________________________________________

Burn

burn
Robert Montgomery



I flow
with this pen
from one moment
into the next.

Looking
to release
the need
to question at all.

Looking
to lose
this character
made up of scraps
of memory
and collected
interpretations...

spasms
of illusionary
experience...
seeking to save
rather than burn
clean.

Fragmented beings
only believe
they are so
when really
the fire
of one thousand
suns
burns inside
waiting
for release.

If
we were
to understand...
if only
we threw
off the veil.
So thin
that which
separates us
from our salvation.

So thin
and yet
in our conditioned
awareness
we see
a fortress
from which
the only escape
is death.

And so
we hide
amongst
the safe
battlements...
ignoring
the truth.

Every
one of us
harbors
the secret desire,
the hope,
that we will be
the one
to outwit death.

And yet
so many
have done this
but not within
the illusion.
They transcend
experience
by being
a fearless part
of every breath.

Radiating
the fire
rising
above
chaos
to blissful
acceptance.

Inspired by the gift of song...

For those of you who have been lucky enough
to be inspired by the music of David Archuleta
this is for you.

But it also speaks
to inspiration as it comes
to us in any form.

This poem speaks
to the spirit
which dwells in each of us.

Namaste
is a salute
to that spirit.

David's gift
has opened again within me
that voice,
that yearning to share
and to connect.

It is the tug on our hearts
we feel when he sings,
or talks, or laughs or just smiles.
It is the call of home
we all so long to hear.

I can so clearly see
and feel spirit
working through David
but the gift
is that I feel it again
within myself.

And so I share this
with all of you
in salute of that connection
we all share.

It is the prayer
I see within his face
whenever he offers
his heart to us.

The Gift
Robert Montgomery

Oh spirit start
to sing within me
play upon
my eager soul.

Open me
to joyful rapture
deep within
this willing heart.

I am yours
to turn and polish
making me
a tool of love.

I am here
in peaceful silence
looking to
the light above.

Oh spirit see
this empty vessel
ready to
be filled and poured.

Sharing song
and light and laughter
out onto
a ready world.

Cycle...

Cycle
Robert Montgomery


So what is poetry?
Have I grown?
Still questioning so much.
Still stretching
and questioning.
Perhaps that is growth...
the constant upheaval
of accepted truth...
unearthing the new
from the decay
of yesterday.

Walking fresh
into the now...
Readying the soil
for new growth
and expansion...
The cycle returning
to birth...
in every breath taken
is life given
and in every exhale
is life returned.

This dance
is one
of constant release
for these hands
can only hold
the present.
This soul
is guardian
of the now.

Here I am
once again...
shaking off the chains
of illusion
stepping out
of the story line
the plot...
emerging
radiant...
focused...
expansive!

This oneness
the truth
of all truths...
this connection
the real high of life...
all knowing mine
for the asking
all meaningless
and divinely
immense.

I am
in the garden
and of the garden.
I have never left.
We never left.
The illusion
is the gate
for how to exit
that which is
everything.

His way...

His Way
Robert Montgomery


just when I think
that life is one way
it turns around and becomes
another way but
always the same way
only I don't see
that the only way
is His way
and I remember
that mine is a journey
of ultimate trust
and if I only
breathed that
in every moment
that this soaring adventure
would connect me
as the bird
gliding the breeze
of summer

On saying goodbye...

do they know?
Robert Montgomery



It suddenly hit me
today on this bright
gentle July afternoon...
looking over at the pictures
it hit me
they're gone
really gone...

No more
excuses
to get out of class
no more
laughter in hallways
or the promise
of tomorrow's excuses.

"Have a nice weekend"
"See you tomorrow"
reduced to
"Take care and visit."
"Go change the world...
it needs you."

Do they know
that an age has passed?
Golden innocence
even in the face
of so much
horrific insanity.

Do they see
the bubble burst
behind them
opening the door
to what is
and what must be?

I smile through
the heartbreak
knowing that this heart
holds the precious
memory
of their days
in this particular sun.

It suddenly hit me
today on this endless
July afternoon
that they are gone
really gone...
to their lives.

On faith, questions, answers and harmony..

faith
Robert Montgomery



My heart
does not need
belief.
It is irrelevant
in the face
of true
knowing.

Truth itself
offers
no opposite...
no alternate
choice.

Turning away
does not change
the face
of God.

It merely brings
isolation
confusion
chaos
and despair
to the mind.

How can a sunbeam
separate itself
from the Sun?
How can a wave
be separate
from the Ocean?

And so how
can I exist
apart from God?



July 1997

______________________________________________________


Again
Robert Montgomery



Always the struggle
with the individual.
I sit here
in the Sanctuary
where it all began.
Gentle breeze
upon my face...
the trees singing me
Welcome.

"The Garden lies
within my son.
Paradise
is always
yours
for the asking.
You hold the key.
You know the secrets
for there are none.
All that is
has always been
and always will be.
All time breathing
into this one
moment."

Glittering
golden
as I sit here
once again
in God's sanctuary.
Atlantis rising.
Egypt reborn.
Resurrection
and rebirth
the Gifts
of remembering.

July 1997

___________________________________________________



response
Robert Montgomery



"Too much of this...
too little of that.
My mind held captive
to the definitions
of the world."

Why am I so hard on myself?
Why do I feel so inauthentic?
as if everything I say
is edited...
and analyzed...
for meaning.
Hidden intent.
Hidden agenda.

But who's?

I want so much
to stop the tapes
grinding
in my head.
And I know
how to do it
so why am I afraid
of the work?

Balance
and focus
will clear the slate
wiping away
the hallucination
of regret
and lost moments.

How can I write
of that which I don't believe?
How can I say these words
when my life
does not support them?
Why am I so hard
on myself?


July 1997



___________________________________________________



Harmony
Robert Montgomery



Yesterday fell into place beautifully
once I remembered who I was.
The deflection of life seems to only happen
when I strive to navigate the river.

Sinking deeply into every experience is the key
but not with worldly definitions.
It may look from the outside as if someone is detached
yet the miracle unfolds internally.

How can we open fully
to the majesty of every heartbeat?
It is the beat which plays the rhythm of life...
without a single note
the song is incomplete.

Just as every person makes a difference
so too does every laugh
every sigh
every snowflake
every moonbeam.



The tapestry is continually created
and we are stitchers
and stitches
creators
and created.

Our part is no more or no less that any other
yet perfectly balanced
on the wheel
of creation.

Harmony requires perfect balance.

Balance requires perfect harmony.

Truth needs equal participation.



July 1997





and so I look into a future full of possibility. But I walk in the sureness of my own faith in God and His faith in me.

struggling with promises...

I guess that it must be
a part of the human experience
to want to do better,
to want to be better people.

Sometimes we are hardest with ourselves.
This poem speaks to that battle within.
Yet when we turn it over to God
we realize that the only battle
was with ourselves.

God was always there
just "waiting for the smallest invitation",
never judging,
and always seeing the beauty
which we truly are.

promise
Robert Montgomery


Promises I make
promises I break
in these early hours.
My breath tight
the guilt of failure
rising within me.

Why can't I be strong?
Why am I not better?
Why always the promise?
How many mornings
must I rise to the chaos
of my own mind?

Gentle companion,
teacher, friend...
walk with me
show me
the forgiveness
within my self.

Remind me
of laughter
and the song of life.
Let is rise
ringing within me
heralding the day.

I so long
for the comfort
of your loving arms.
My heart cries out
for understanding.
It aches for peace
and the solitude
of acceptance.

Around me now
the angels flock
and the beat of their wings
blows away all guilt,
blows away all failure,
blows away
my self-imposed pain.

The inner smile
spreads through me now
warming with the fire.
I am forged anew.
The promise kept is His!
I am and will always be
welcome.

I am and will always be
a part of this glorious chorus.
My voice raised high
dancing to the heavens...
my only promise
that I will remember
the way back home.

Acceptance....

So much time
spent trying to get
somewhere
with something.

I am hiking
up a mountain
of my own design...
trying to drag along
my own fears
and disappointments.

Why else would it be so?

Anyone can see
that death allows us
no luggage.

Why then
would I carry
so much with me
during the journey?

It is simple.
I fear the moment.

For this breath
is all I truly have
and upon its release
perhaps another.

Perhaps not.

That truth
is so profoundly
earth shattering
that I cannot accept it.

For to do so
would make every breath
vital.

Every heartbeat is
the ultimate chance
to live from the light I know
is my destiny.

I know.
yet wait until...
I have enough money,
or years, or pain, or whatever.

Yet that day
will never come
for I know that today
is all there is.

There is no guarantee on tomorrow.

Not a cliché
but an immensity
I fear looking upon.

And so I delay
and rarely ever live.

A life devoid of fear
lived in true trust...
I have felt it so many times.
Within it all is peaceful acceptance.

Within it too
lies a powerful responsibility
to live from there always.

Was not that Christ's message?

"You too can overcome the illusion
of life and be man's salvation."

We cannot
and do not
enter Heaven alone.


June 1998

Who am I today?

Maybe it's the day.
Maybe it's always the same day.
For whatever has led me here
I welcome
and do not fear
the destroyer
of so much paper
illusion.

I find myself wandering
through prose elegant
and noble.
Yet nothing rings
within this hungry soul
so eager to be
the prince again

Forgetting
that princes live
in isolation.

Led here to this door
and behind it
a lifetime
I had almost forgotten.
a Me
I had filed away
behind walls
of arrogant survival.

I open it
and out flows
truth
blinding
radiant
undeniably
pure
and instantly
nourishing.

Feeding a hunger
I could not
define.

What do I believe...

I wrote this 25 years ago yet so easily could have written it today.

There was a time when
I looked inside
and saw merely
a reflection of thought...
learned images of what was
supposed to be real.

Concrete within me lay
definitions
of love, trust,
understanding.
Where did they come from?
Who defends their truth?

I looked deeper.
There were the questions
I felt I had answered
believing I understood
but never "knowing"
never really "knowing"

Here I fell short of my goal
for to truly know
of thought and mind
there is no thought,
no debate,
no question.

It is there...
to hold, to caress,
to treasure.

Now,
I do not know,
I do not seek.
I look inside and see
a reflection...

a reflection of you.

Finding my faith again...

Another love poem
I wrote to someone
thinking that they were the vessel
of my happiness.

I have learned
that faith in anything material
will always fail.

People leave.
Possesions come and go.
We ride the tide
of embrace and release in this life.

The only thing eternal is love.

I realize today
as I read this poem
that I am the vessel.
I choose to love
and to receive love.

I have found my faith again.
I have found my God
who has never left me.

He waited patiently
for my return.

Today I can rest
in the comfort
of His eternal understanding and grace.

I used to wonder
At the mysteries
Of the world

Now
My life is full
Of wonder

I used to think
That my heart
Could never truly
Be shared.

Now I think
That my heart
Beats with another

I used to ache
At the sight
Of true beauty

Now I ache
With the beauty
Flowing through me

I used to dream
That my love
Would come to me.

Now I wake
To dreams
Of passion and trust

I used to believe
That happiness
Was elusive

Now I believe
In the promise
Of love

I used to reach out
And find
Empty space.

Now I reach out
And find you
Holding me.

On love...

I wrote this awhile back about someone.
At that time I thought that love had to be found.
I thought that it rested like a treasure in another
and without them I had nothing.

Today I read this love poem
and realize
that it is written
to that beauty which connects us all.

I choose to call it God.

Just like we need a lamp
to bring light
into a darkened room
so too does God need us
to shine the light of love
out onto a needy world.

At least that's what I believe today.

you are
the golden
end of day
you are
the laughter
when children play

you are
a bird
in graceful flight
you are
a moonbeam's
silver light

you are
the wind
caressing the trees
you are
the whisper
of a gentle breeze


you are
fierceness
and strength
you are
passion
and flight

you are
softness
and sweetness
you are
goodness
and light

you are
my future
you are
my past
you are
now and forever

my love at last

12-25-03

Vessel

Standing at the chasm
of unspoken truth
deep the denial...
echoes of a soul
crying to be heard...
begging for the smallest
attention.


Is this a love
of required duties?
the words like chains
binding me to a self
I don't want to be...
retreating...
trapped.


Who is speaking now?
Why does this heart
need for anything?
Why does my gift
suddenly require
recognition?
confused.


I've already played
this role seemingly
before me
stagnant
with the decay
of remembered
pain.


Why does truth
make me feel
so alone?
emptied...
of my endless
excuses...
naked.


I am awake
rising
from troubled
slumber
nightmares
of excused exile...
stripped.


attuned...
intent..
focused...
prepared...
a cup is useful
only
when it is empty.



Feb 1997

Friend

i sit
as before
an instrument
unsure
of the player

singing
inside me
the voice tugs
and yearns
for release

welcome
calming
friend
companion
teacher

i sit
and wait
balanced
tuned
resonant

the melody begins.

The Angel's Prayer

Breath into me Lord.
Slow my jumbled thoughts.
Still the tapes.
They are echoes
of a past
I now release.

Opening
to powerful
solitude.
A centering
which does not separate
but connects.

The wheel
its strength
in shared unity...
all parts equally balanced...
giving and receiving...
power from the center.

Core understanding.

To be one
with my brother
I must go
to the center
and so become one
with all.

I pray now for those
who do not yet hold the vision.
May the angels surround them
and offer them understanding
a glimpse of perfection
connection.

Place that vision
foremost in my mind Lord
as I begin this day...
as I take on once again
my own mission
which you have laid out for me.

Clear my mind
so that my heart
may once again hear
the sweet melody
of Heaven.

Let the golden chorus
carry me back
into your arms.
I rest safely now
in the surety that soon
we will all be here
awakened
and loving...
free.

Amen

Sometimes...

Sometimes
I awaken
with the song
of God's chorus
ringing through
my foggy head.

Sometimes
I stumble
to the coffee
struggling to wake
and calm
my ragged breath.

Sometimes
I hear
the gentle call
of angels
singing to
my aching heart.

Sometimes
I struggle
to stop the tapes
playing out
the story of
my guilty failures.

Always
I breath
away the confusion
and welcome
the call
of my yearning soul.

Until Now

A day before us...
uncharted...
full of possibilities.
We are not
the people
we were
yesterday.
Every moment
the past
falling
away...
leaving us
fresh and clear
free
from expectation
free
from failure
ready
to embrace
the moment.
Breath it in
you have never breathed
until now
Look around
you have never seen
until now.
Laugh
for it is your first laugh.
Sing out
with your new voice.
"Be the change."
Celebrate
eternity is here.

Waking

it is the end
of another day
again the embrace
of velvet sleep
as I forget
or remember
my reality.

where do we live
and where
do we dream
for life moves
with such spasms
of heartbreaking
moments.

Explosive
stretching time
around experience
like a bubble
then bursting
and allowing the flow
to begin again.

who am I?
this me remembered?
practiced?
called forth daily
playing the tapes
of past fears, joys,
celebration, despair?

how do I not
remember?
living fresh
a lover
of every breath
intimate
with every heartbeat.

it is heavy
this facade of me
so much work
trying to be
the me
I think everyone
wants me to be.

I dream
of sinking
deeply into every
sun drenched moment
warming me
from the inside out
ablaze in my rapture.

connected
to everything
and so I become
only light
radiating
always new
and ancient.

as I sleep
I will wonder
if I am awake
and if this life
has been one of
dreaming...
and waking
to Heaven

blessings...

Conversation...

take me
comfort me
teach me
lead me

rhythm
beat
breath
filled

random
life seems
by chance
and still
a cycle
binding us
to repeat
our mistakes
until they burn
firing glorious
ashes afloat
on the breeze
of redemption.

creation
is spontaneous
and courageous
leaping
into the void
trusting
in truth
and the promise
of Salvation.

heart song

its as if
I had never heard
music before
until your voice
found its way
into my broken
heart.

You found
a way within
my defenses
filling my soul
with a song
of tender
hope.

Forgotten Wings

Observations at an airport...

coming and going
but all of us going
only the workers
call this place home
the rest of us
transients
uprooted
and on the move

still we take
a piece
of our world
out with us
clothes, walk,
attitude...
all programmed
into the muscles

we become creatures
on auto pilot
merely reliving
the same patterns over
and over again
and we ask,
"why is this always
happening to me?"

choices...
life shows us things
and we choose
sometimes the choices
are thrust upon us
but that
is the secret to living...

we are
always
at choice
we always
have
the option
of smiling.

Sarasota Bound...

There is no way to know
where the road leads
unless you take
the first step.

February 11th, 2008
I took my first
tentative step
along my road
to recovery.

I knew forward
was my only choice.
I could not stand idle
and behind me
lay only darkness.

The step
was really taken for me.
For when I finally
decided to let God
back into my life
miracles happened.

On that day
I met two angels
and their light
illumined the path
before me.

They took my hand
and with a laugh
and a smile
told me
that I was
their new best friend.

And it was and is true.
Truth has no defense
or definition
it merely is.

I knew them
and they knew me
from a time
beyond time
where only love
exists.

They believed
in me
when I could not
believe in myself.

They had faith
in me
when I could find
little faith in myself.

They trusted
in me
and I began
to trust and believe
and have faith
again.

The angels
are playmates
They do not come
with swords and fire
They come with music
and laughter
and the promise
of a summer afternoon

They remind us
of who we are
and of where
we are meant
to be

They show us
our true selves
behind our fear
and the illusion
of this world

They hold up
a mirror
to our face
and let us see
the angel within.

Today
I leave to meet
my newest best friend
the angel Keenan
who waits for me
in a place called
Sarasota.

I am her
Godfather
She is my
Goddaughter.
Miracles everywhere
once we open our eyes
and see them.

Sarasota bound
am I
heading towards
Heavens Gate.