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.....