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.....