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.....