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.....