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.....