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.....