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.....