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.....