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.....