Naming Names 

Iowa City, IA 

I bought 45 white roses for the 45 Iowans—men and women—killed in the Iraq War.

I laid the roses out on the Iowa City Pentacrest in rows of two. When I was finished, I read the names, rank, date of death and city each soldier was from. I left the roses all day in that formation. I returned a few hours later and only one rose had been taken; nothing else was disturbed. I came back in the evening to gather all the remaining roses, and another was gone, but again the pattern of the roses was left unaltered.

As I was preparing to pick up the remaining roses two girls came by, and each took one. It became a sacred space for those few hours. Those who passed seemed to have had a respect for the roses, knowing there was some deeper meaning.