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.....