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.....