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.....