The Garden at the Edge of the Sea

It was too far for awareness to travel,
So we remained unaware all the night.

When we came to and endured the final waves,
We saw the little garden as a circle

Shining against the flecked darkness of the sea.
Perfect! We thought, who wouldn’t want to live here?

And we landed, and we entered the garden,
Which proved to be puzzling, as it was thriving

But also everywhere blighted by disease.
It was the disease itself that was thriving,

The disease was the whole life of the garden.
It was a garden of nothing but disease.

We paused and considered. Could we add some life
That would be free of the disease? It seemed not.

The essence of the disease was replacement.
If we replaced it, it would only triumph.

The thought of prolonged unawareness made us
Shudder, but the thought of this garden was worse.

Reluctantly, we climbed back into our ship,
Carefully removing traces of disease,

Then posted a warning about the garden,
Before setting back out through the vacant sea.