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.....