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.....