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.....