Conversation with Grace Paley, Flight of
the Mind Writing Workshop, Oregon

It’s been a spectacular day, Grace!

We gushed

And she cleared her throat.

Not that great, she said—

But pretty good.

Didn’t you like our long drive into the woods

to see trees with rounded buttocks?

They were okay.

Our splendid dinner?

Tasty.

Grace, guide us! What is politics to you?

You are such a brave activist!

How do we live, what do we do?

Politics is simply the way human beings treat

one another on the earth.