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.....