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.....