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.....