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.....