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.....