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.....