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.....