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.....