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.....