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.....