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.....