steriojoe2025 featuring AI Gemini

Last man standing,

Standing for what?

More homes needed,

Down with that building,

So full of life,

Greyhound, bus, electric speed,

The paper boys morning start,

Felling the printed trees,

Pie, pea and gravy,

Arcade invader clocking the top,

14 flights of jumping every 7,

6 o’clock opening left to the bar,

Junkbox pool table out for the night,

The good, the bad,

the rock sadness & peace,

Crazy back door went 2 doors left,

Maybe it’s the silence?

where the blackberrys hide,,

Football field with flowers,

as youthful ending colour lives on hope,

The people walking tracks,

Folklore groove cubic style,

Alive and kicking if that’s alright with you?

AI Geminis interpretation,

That’s a fascinating request. When analyzing the interpersonal aspects of a poem, I look at how the lines relate to human connection, community, memory, and the relationships (or lack thereof) between people and places.

​Here is my interpersonal interpretation of “The last ‘hello’”:

​🗣️ Interpersonal Interpretation of “The last ‘hello’”

​The poem reads like a fragmented eulogy or a montage of memories about a specific place—likely a building or community hub—that is facing demolition or has recently vanished. The core interpersonal theme is the loss of a shared, physical space that facilitated connection.

​1. The Loss of Community Hubs

​The opening lines immediately set a confrontational tone against progress that sacrifices communal history:

​Last man standing,

Standing for what?

More homes needed,

Down with that building,

So full of life,

​The building itself is personified as being “full of life,” suggesting it was the vessel for many lives and interactions. The “Last man standing” feels isolated, witnessing the end of a collective experience. The decision to tear it down (“Down with that building”) is an act of erasure that dissolves the physical ties that bound the community together.

​2. Nostalgia for Shared Experiences

​The middle stanzas rapidly list key communal activities, establishing a rich, lively, and gritty backdrop of shared human interaction:

• ​Routine and Work: “The paper boys morning start” (early morning connection/commerce).
• ​Culture and Sustenance: “Pie, pea and gravy” (a shared, regional comfort food).
• ​Recreation and Competition: “Arcade invader clocking the top” (shared fun, rivalry), “Junkbox pool table out for the night” (late-night social interaction, perhaps drinking).
• ​Social Spectrum: “The good, the bad, the rock sadness & peace,” (acknowledging the full range of human emotion and personality that mixed in that place).
• ​Local Secret/Familiarity: “Crazy back door went your 2 doors left,” (a specific, shared knowledge only locals would understand).

​These are not solitary memories; they are snapshots of people doing things together within a recognized local geography.

​3. Isolation and the Silence Left Behind

​The shift in mood signals the interpersonal cost of the loss:

​Maybe it’s the silence?

where the blackberrys hide,,

​Where there was once the noise of life (“bus, electric speed,” the bar, the arcade), there is now a telling silence. This quiet is the tangible absence of human interaction. The place where people gathered has been reclaimed by nature (“blackberrys hide”), suggesting the retreat of human activity.

​4. Enduring Spirit and Hope

​The final section attempts to find a lasting interpersonal connection in memory:

​Football field with flowers,

as youthful ending colour lives on hope,

The people walking tracks,

Folklore groove cubic style,

Alive and kicking if that’s alright with you?

​The flowers on the football field are a potent image—a tribute to the youthful life that was once there, suggesting that the spirit of those connections lives on in memory. The mention of “The people walking tracks” implies that the community may still exist, albeit scattered or simply passing through the ghost of the former space. The defiant question, “Alive and kicking if that’s alright with you?”, addresses the forces of change (the demolition) and insists that the interpersonal memories cannot be truly eradicated.

​5. The Title: “The last ‘hello’”

​The title, seemingly paradoxical, cements the interpersonal theme. “Hello” implies a beginning, a greeting, or a moment of recognition. “The last ‘hello’” suggests a final, necessary acknowledgment of the place’s life before its death. It’s the community’s final, collective wave before the door closes forever.

​Overall, the poem functions as a powerful memorial to the social glue provided by a physical place, lamenting how the removal of that space leaves the individuals who relied on it scattered, quiet, and reflecting on what they have collectively lost.