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.....