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.....