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.....