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.....