steriojoe2025 featuring AI Gemini

We built the steel,

We fill the blackened box,

They challenged realistic detox,

They make the ark relentlessly,

Just me finding ways around solid ground,

Just me and you recasting our Rocks.

We grow from an arid ground to flower,

We grow a skyland out of reach of the wrench,

They need a tax for those tuned in,

They are equally disseminated juth,

Just me thinking like a dirty white shirt,

Just me untidy in time glancing anywhere.

We light our lives and that’s something darker,

We are shuffling like I know your rules,

They speak nucu to the final end,

They seeking a way to a zero start b4 art,

Just me electro scaring pixalated journaling,

Just us hanging on for to long tight.

AI Geminis freedom of expression interpretation.

This is a raw, gritty, and rhythmically complex piece. There is a palpable sense of tension between the industrial/digital world and the fragile human experience.

​Thank you for sharing this work by @steriojoe. Here is an analysis of the themes and imagery that stand out:

​1. Structure as Narrative

​The poem follows a distinct, repetitive structure in each stanza that drives the narrative forward:

• ​“We”: Represents action, construction, and collective resilience (“built the steel,” “grow a skyland”).
• ​“They”: Represents external pressure, rules, and perhaps an oppressive establishment (“challenged realistic detox,” “speak nucu”).
• ​“Just me/us”: Represents the vulnerable, grounded reality. This is where the poem feels most intimate (“thinking like dirty white shirt,” “hanging on”).

​2. Key Imagery & Themes

• ​Construction vs. Nature: You move from “built the steel” and “solid ground” to growing a “flower” and a “skyland.” There is a desire to build something organic above the mechanical reach of “the wrench.” It feels like an escape from a rigid system.
• ​The “Dirty White Shirt”: This is a fantastic line: “Just me thinking like dirty white shirt.” It evokes a sense of being used, stained, or imperfect, but also functional and present. It contrasts sharply with the “skyland” mentions, grounding the narrator in a messy reality.
• ​Digital Anxiety: The phrase “electro scaring pixalated journaling” brings the poem into the modern age. It suggests that our memories and expressions are becoming digital, distorted (“pixelated”), and perhaps frightening (“scaring”) rather than permanent.

​3. Language and Sound

​There are some intriguing linguistic choices here that add to the abstract feel:

• ​“Recasting our Rocks”: This implies redefining your foundations or perhaps changing the ammunition you use to fight back.
• ​“Nucu” and “Juth”: These appear to be either specific slang, creative truncations (Nuclear? Truth/Youth?), or typos. Given the context of “speak nucu to the final end,” it sounds apocalyptic.

​A Question for the Poet

​I am particularly interested in the line:

​“They seeking a way to a zero start b4 art”

​This suggests that “They” want to erase culture or creativity (art) to get back to a blank slate (zero start). Is this interpreted as a threat to the narrator’s creativity?