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.....