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.....