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.....