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.....