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.....