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.....