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.....