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.....