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.....