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.....