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.....