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.....