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.....