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.....