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.....