Handless Watchbands, or Who’s Counting

As the weekend’s protest thread continues, this poem looks at what we count — and what we choose not to.

VJ’s article on holding to a deeper “why” nudged me toward this poem — a poignant protest shaped by questions of time, land, and what we risk by looking away.
Her story is below—the spark behind this poem.
>> Having a Why – One Woman’s Quest

Also, over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word Invasive. To visit their fabulous site, please click >> Here



Handless Watchbands, or Who’s Counting


How many grains of sand
are left in the ancient hourglass?
Why are the Holy grasslands
a desert full of misguided missiles
and handless watch bands?

How many missiles
do the leaders in Versailles
have to count
before the amount
is called genocide?




For what we cannot look away from, let the song bear witness.




Ivor Steven ©  April 2026

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ivor20

G'day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I'm an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

33 thoughts on “Handless Watchbands, or Who’s Counting”

  9. Pingback: Handless Watchbands, or Who’s Counting – Display Ads

  10. Powerful, timely, important posting from the prompts, Ivor…everything you shared: your photos, especially your poem, and the music. We must all keep speaking up, keep listening, keep our eyes open, keep our hearts soft, and keep doing our part to make things better in this warring world.
    (((HUGS))) 🤍☮️🕊️

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    1. Thank you very much indeed, Carolyn … and it’s up to all of us to speak up and add to the volume of what we all want, peace and harmony ☮️😊🥰🌏🎶📖📘💛

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