Page 85 - Dark Matter Women Witnessing

several hours a day. I dressed in black and covered my face with a white mask. Right below

the hole carved out for the left eye was a large bead in the shape of a tear. In my hands I held

a bowl filled with water, symbolizing the sorrow (read tears) felt by people all over the world

about what was occurring in Iraq. It was a very cold January and one day, the water in my

bowl froze.

The second version of Tears of the World was held on Valentine's day, a month after I had

originally launched the piece. It was for me a day of despair. I could not fathom what was

happening in Iraq, especially when I learned that our sanctions were instrumental in sending

half a million children to their death. Instead of a tear-filled bowl, I held a box with the shiny

red patent leather shoes placed inside to represent a dead Iraqi girl whom I named my little

sister. Against the Plaza's Soldiers Monument I set a sign with a photograph of a little Iraqi

girl which read: “These are my little sister's red shoes/She was born and died in Iraq./She will

never be able to walk/on our beautiful Earth again./LOVE is COMPASSION./Please join me/In

reminding our new president/of the COMPASSION/He so often mentions/And beg him to

initiate a new era/That finds a nonviolent, COMPASSIONATE solution/For the people of Iraq.

I am so sad,/My little sister,/She died because of our policies.”