As I made my way to work this morning I noticed hundreds of little white signs on sticks in some of the lawns surrounding the library at Penn. At first I thought they might be an advertisement or even campaign signs. As I walked closer, though, it became clear that they are symbolic grave markers. The installation is a collaboration between Penn Against War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War on Iraq and a group called World Can’t Wait. Each marker represents 1,000 Iraqis, and most placards name young children and their cause of death.

Organizer Felicity Paxton says she “hopes the installation will be visually arresting…” Well, it certainly got me. I stopped in the appropriate rain to take a few pictures with my phone. The feeling is much like that of being in the World War II cemetery in France, especially when you realize each of those little signs actually represents one thousand lives.

If you’d like to visit, the markers will be there all week. From the corner of 34th and Walnut follow the diagonal path (Locust Walk) southwest. Bring tissues.