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.....