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.....