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.....