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.....