Larry's poem begins in a bright, childlike place: a sunny morning, flowers, a treetop, clouds that taste like candy. The speaker seems to look back on a happy time shared with someone ("we"), but the warning signs arrive early. The clouds will turn to dust, the tree will grow out of reach, and the candy eventually tastes like shriveled leaves. Judging by the imagery, this is about a closeness that slowly soured and became impossible to get back to.
The middle of the poem names a "date last marked," January 4th, 2022, which suggests a moment when something ended, though the poem doesn't say what. After that, the rose becomes the main image. The speaker advises finding new joy after loss, but admits that joy can fall apart too, until the rose "can't stand you." The mood is wistful and quietly sad. The last line, "And maybe you will too," is unsettling, leaving the reader with a gentle but real sense of drifting away.