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.....