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.....