“Crazy bastards,” my father used to say when
he saw young people doing dangerous things—

like riding motorcycles or hot-rodding motorboats
on the lake on hot summer days—this from a guy

who had famously water skied barefoot in his 20s.
“Probably drunk,” he’d say, no stranger to a Manhattan,

though, as a responsible grown-up all about safety,
he did not drink and drive—boats or cars.

My father’s condemnation swept through my head
like a Delta breeze on the first day of July when

I read that two people in their early 30s on
the actual island of Manhattan had needle-climbed

the Empire State Building’s 200-foot spire,
unfurling a black flag that read:

When the power of love beats the love of power
the world knows peace.

Even with the forgotten comma after the introductory
clause (like this one—give your self-editor a rest, Jan),

my old heart softened, turning to moosh when I read
that Ivan Beerkus had proposed to Angela Nikolau as they

stood atop the off-limits-to-the-public landing (duh!)
before climbing down and being arrested (double duh!).

But what a story to tell their kids, huh? Or anyone, really.
“We climbed 1,454 feet in a rebellious act of devotion,”

they can boast. The power of love, indeed.
Crazy bastards, for sure. But oh, how I’m applauding

those two lovebirds, flying in their own way to
a spot most of us mere mortals can only (thankfully)

imagine—all, yes, all—in the name of peace.

•••

If you’re up for a literal birds’ eye perspective, you can watch the video
of Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau’s Empire State Building
spire-topping view here.

If you’d like to read The New York Times story, you can do so here.