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.....