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.....