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.....