the  spire             
  
  once upon a time, there was a     
  benevolent  spire, towering well  
  above  our tallest trees. it was  
  clad in white scales, and shaped  
       liked  a   mushroom.         
       we  loved  it  dearly.       
  
   it predated us  by  many years,  
  and we did not know its original  
   builders.  they  had  used its   
   hollow  body for  many strange   
  purposes -  a womblike  place of  
   gestation, a storage of  strage  
  fluids, a temple to some kind of  
    arcane   deity.                 
  
   we   were  grateful  for  its    
   presence, and  honored  it  the  
   only  way   we  knew  how:  by   
         breaking       in.         
  
                                          
                                          
  
  this place  we  called our city:  
  wavy  and fractured,  with each   
  courtyard on a different height,  
  roads becoming  roofs  becoming   
   drains.  and some places, like   
   the  spire, nobody had accessed  
  for many  years.  once its walls  
   are  just  too  high,  and the   
  internal routes to labyrinthine,  
  a place among others  is  easily  
            overlooked.             
  
   so, basically, that summer  the  
  four of us snuck and climbed and  
  crawled for weeks, searching for  
  a secluded place to do drugs and  
  play  music on  our handhelds.    
   instead we  found  vast  lungs   
    drained   of  their  catalyst   
   sludge, and a birds-eye view to  
  make sense of our roamings  for   
         years   to   come.         
  
   a central  spine,  a staircase   
   around it, the  seven  toroidal  
   lungs stacked  outside, and the  
  control room on top. the sockets  
  for its eyes. the smaller spires  
   for   radiating  consciousness   
            invitations.            
  
                                          
  
  in twenty fourteen, the tower is  
  toppled and eaten by  machines.   
  after a  while, something new is  
   conjured in its  place. it's a   
  tiny maw at first,  shorter than  
   us,  and  we  let  it be.  our   
  journeys still end at its feet.   
  
   but then we are  betrayed. the   
   new tower eats us. others  are   
  sucked inside. new buildings are  
   manifested overnight, only  to   
   disappear in the  evening fog.   
   for a while  its some kind  of   
  timeshare scam. goons are placed  
  outside,  and we get beaten up a  
   few  times,  and  stop  going.   
  
   iirc  it's currently  owned  by  
  some energy drink baron who uses  
  it to  hold all his fourty eight  
              cars.....