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.....