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.....