Almost Philippe Petit

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© Oliverio
The footnotes are a  must read

If every tight rope
were five inches wide
and made of solid concrete

That would be so terrifically neat:
I'd be Belmont Shores'  Philippe Petit. *

From the large tree dwarfed in rear–
entirely without a molecule of fear–

I walked the ledge.
I'll have you understand

I walked entirely on edge
twixt street and sand

About he foreground post–
let your eyes not miss–
when I got there
I gave it a kiss!






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Footnotes
In 1974, I was a full-fledged New York resident whose architectural response
to the one-year-old twins that dwarfed the Empire State building was
no different from the response of 6,000,000 other New Yorkers.

The Twin Towers were worm-stricken eyesore
in our wonderful Big Apple.

Then along came a French daredevil with a master plan of attack
and a high-wire act at the greatest height ever walked.

Phillippe Petit  walked between the Twin Towers
from roof to roof and then was subject
to immediate arrest but not for long.

Not only did  he become a folk hero
but Mr. Petit gave New Yorkers reason
to love the Twin Towers.

On the Fortieth Anniversary  of his high wire miracle–
August 7, 2014–Phillippe struck again and the resulting
applause has never ceased.

*
The only way imaginable that I could truly become
Belmont Shores' Phillippe Petit would require
NOT my walking on the beach ledge
but actually walking on the water,
all the way across Alamitos Bay.

Upon reaching the other side,
I would declare:  "It most definitely would have been
more fun–and a better exercise–if I swam the same distance!"
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