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.....