What’s wrong with writing poetry on an aircraft carrier? I can’t speak to being on an aircraft carrier, but on a submarine you are not in war mode 24/7; there’s time to do ordinary things. (usually).
Let me guess: Tommy here hasn’t ever served in the military, right? All he knows about it is from movies?
Well, maybe free time doesn’t happen in the first year, but I was a nuke; quals weren’t all that bad from what I remember.