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.....