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.....