No matter the harried schedule or low-pressured storm, I often find myself vortexed into poetry readings at Volume II. Last night, we arrived early. Rain showers timed-out long enough to usher us inside. Virginia Tech English Department faculty, students, and friends gathered to hear one of their and my favorites, poet and English department faculty member, Gyorgi Voros, reading from her new book, Wavering, and other works.

Palpable camaraderie and warm support surrounded. Students from yesteryear dropped by. One asked Tech instructor, Sue Reisinger, if she would be teaching a certain course next semester. Upon hearing an affirmative, “Oh, good!” exclaimed the student. Here also was a welcoming place for friends and neighbors to touch base. Former English Department faculty member, Simone Poirier-Bures, returned from her well-traveled retirement to join Gyorgi reading a poetic duet together and to visit former colleagues.

Swirled into the spirit of the evening, I knew what I needed to know about these creative writers and their friends. They are a tender-hearted group, feelings, thoughts and words welling up, both of and through them. You sense they care about each other, and their world. They draw from microscopic reflection on life’s bounty and heartbreak. Once and again, they tether you to intimate, consuming experience with the earth and its creatures.

Last night, I found myself transported by Gyorgi’s spellbinding magic. The breadth and depth of the discovery amazed. I shuddered along with her ironic poems of named above- and underground nuclear tests in Nevada and the South Pacific. Fleetingly, I thought I’d never again walk the woods without linking life to decay. I can still imagine myself almost out of gas on a barren, but starkly beautiful, California back road. Tears welled up as she captured what we felt following April 16.

And I wonder at the creative process, on such a different plane than anything I could create. Does Gyorgi always see life more clearly than the rest of us? She told of bird watching days and using binoculars to examine her foci close-up. And they (binoculars) are a metaphor for how she views the world. Is she infinitesimally more plugged in? Because of her, I can still “see” some of the images I heard last night. I love Gyorgi’s poetry because it not only sings, but also provokes and inspires. Words create their own beauty. But change thus inspired creates beauty even more transcendent. Fellow department member, Aileen Murphy, introduced Gyorgi saying that she (Aileen) is a better writer and person because of Gyorgi Voros. Indeed.

Sometimes we take for granted life’s more precious gifts. Today I stop to reflect on the privilege of being tangentially related (through my husband’s career) to this department and its creative authors. What a joy it is!

Kathryn Welch is a retired industrial-organizational psychologist and free-lance writer from Blacksburg.