Thank you. Yes, it has. Dubrovnik is a beautiful fortress and has seen so much over the generations.
Yes, there is an intended meaning — if I may be cliche, however, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts because it does reach out to subsume so many other specifics and topics.
My initial thought is rationalism against love — not mere emotive love (although I intentionally chose the sensual imagery to describe the clouds and sea). It is an age old battle between rational thought and a more inclusive way to come to truth.
The hyperbole can be strained to create a false dichotomy, however. I do not mean to suggest that there is no place for rational thought and critical thinking and that somehow an emotive response is the only proper approach to life.
There is such a thing as hyper-rationalism that seeks to separate itself from embodiment and physicality: an attempt to pretend that one can merely observe from the outside in scientific fashion as a completely impartial and emotionally removed scientist. Some have even envisioned God this way (again that is the result of a modern-Western-Platonic mindset), rather than the more Ancient Near Eastern description we see in biblical texts.
The battle seems to be ongoing and in this life one wonders if one will gain ascendancy over the other or if there is a way for both to merge.
*Added later:
And yes, there is the personal element to the poem. For years, I had bought into the rationalistic mindset** (part of my culture) that said one could arrive at what matters most through clear thinking. The older I have become along with my travels (11 years traveling to various Eastern European and Balkan countries), I have grown to realize that the way of love — a gutsy, pragmatic, and unselfish desire to do what is helpful and useful for others — is the way one should travel if there is to be any hope for this world. From my Judeo-Christian upbringing this is most clearly seen in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
**I was tempted to say “I had mindlessly bought into the rationalistic mindset…” but that would have been too ironic. 😎
