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.....