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.....