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.....