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.....