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.....