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.....