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.....