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.....