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.....