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.....