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.....