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.....