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.....