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.....