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.....