USS Wellness

This was the place
Where the days all weighed
More than a day
And the hours bloomed
Like roses and thunder
The world was an orchard
No one had plundered
And the juice from the picking
Dripped down on our chins.

I come to these ruins now and again
Because when it’s silent and still
I hear us through time, Merry,
Working out our will and good pleasure.

There was no way to save the day,
To save those days, in the moment,
And no way now to measure
How profound the bloom and peal.

What is worth most?
The first rose to open,
Or the final blossom?

(Written outside the door.)