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.....