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.....