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.....