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.....