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.....