Hello, Michael,
This is magical poetry. I'm sure whatever you felt when writing, or still feel about, it is completely different from what I feel reading it, but I think at a certain age, and a certain time in our lives, we all have similar feelings in this poem. I couldn't give a date, either, but there was a defined time when life became smoother and learning from mistakes was welcomed with more humility and less ego. For me, the diamonds on the water represent all the simple, wonderful gifts there are to life, endless. And since I am aging, I understand the low tide the boats are experiencing. Wonderful personification! Your last stanza is wise and heart-warming. I knew from your title that this would be a gem.
Thank you!
L

I would say:
"This awareness keeps bitterness at bay"
[not giving it a home], a place of refuge
[and a hearth for fanning the flames].

Of course, as always, if I have misconstrued the meaning
or said something not intended, I apologize, and never expect
for a poet to take my word for it, that a thing might make their work better.

~ Geez.
.