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.....