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.....