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.....