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.....