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.....