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.....