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.....