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.....