Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

That's a helluva title, isn't it? It's Grace Paley's title. A book of short stories. Seems Grace died the other day. I saw the news at the Pittsfield branch of the public library & wondered whether my houseguest was the only other person in the building who knew who she was. Seems quite possible.

Grace Paley wrote poetry, too. Was supposed to be at the poetry festival I went to last year, in fact, but was sick, we were told, in serious, hushed tones.

She was also a peacenik:

Today's wars are about oil. But alternate energies exist now-- solar, wind-- for every important energy-using activity in our lives. The only human work that cannot be done without oil is war.

So men lead us to war for enough oil to continue to go to war for oil.

I'm now sure that these men can't stop themselves anymore-- even those who say they want to. There are too many interesting weapons. Besides, theirs is a habit of centuries, eons. They will not break that habit themselves.

For ourselves, for our girl and boy children, women will have to organize as we have done before-- and also as we have never done before-- to break that habit for them, once and for all.

"too many interesting weapons"--- that zings. "interesting"---so mild---as the force driving such a terrible & not mild thing.

but as far as us/women, at the moment i don't much believe we'll organize nuthin'.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

That's a helluva title, isn't it? It's Grace Paley's title. A book of short stories. Seems Grace died the other day. I saw the news at the Pittsfield branch of the public library & wondered whether my houseguest was the only other person in the building who knew who she was. Seems quite possible.

Grace Paley wrote poetry, too. Was supposed to be at the poetry festival I went to last year, in fact, but was sick, we were told, in serious, hushed tones.

She was also a peacenik:

Today's wars are about oil. But alternate energies exist now-- solar, wind-- for every important energy-using activity in our lives. The only human work that cannot be done without oil is war.

So men lead us to war for enough oil to continue to go to war for oil.

I'm now sure that these men can't stop themselves anymore-- even those who say they want to. There are too many interesting weapons. Besides, theirs is a habit of centuries, eons. They will not break that habit themselves.

For ourselves, for our girl and boy children, women will have to organize as we have done before-- and also as we have never done before-- to break that habit for them, once and for all.

"too many interesting weapons"--- that zings. "interesting"---so mild---as the force driving such a terrible & not mild thing.

but as far as us/women, at the moment i don't much believe we'll organize nuthin'.