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.....