Poetry
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Reflections From Life Itself

All These Long Years

I still carry today in my mind an image from my childhood — an iconic image, really, filled now with much more meaning and emotion than the image itself might deserve. It is an image that I am certain I will still carry with me as long as I have breath. It is based on a photo of my dad which shows him, smiling, with his squared off crew cut and him wearing a heavy red flannel shirt, holding a baby — me, I've always thought — supporting the baby against his chest, with his hand — big and strong-looking — covering the baby's entire stomach and chest.

It is a great summation-type image for me of my dad — and one that has grown, I am sure, as the years have passed. It has reminded me through the years of his strength, of his love, of his care for me. His expression embodies a fearless confidence — in himself, in the future, in the kid he is holding — and the whole effect of the image is to make me smile inside and feel those warm fuzzies we too rarely feel in life.

I've held onto that image — in my mind at least, I don't even know if it still exists — I've held onto that image throughout the years, because of what it expressed for me: as a kid it expressed something of the "My big strong daddy!" variety, but as an adult it expressed something more, something along the lines of "My dad loves me still."

I wrote a poem as I thought about that image and about my dad, Ed Belton.

All These Long Years
For my Dad, Ed Belton

Long years of unspoken love
Captured ages ago
On grainy film, now
Carried in my mind — still, and even more clearly —
Free to grow, O free to share —
Strength, courage,
Confidence: yes, there he still remains —
Strong, courageous, confident: still
After all these long years.

No, I can't erase - never wanting to, really —
That strong hand, that care, that smile —
Loving the kind brave love embodied there
Wordless as it was, truly it was,
Still, and time moves it forward, past becomes present
Becomes future, love passed on, yes, and now?
Even now, dad's strong hand calls forth: Godspeed, son,
Godspeed. Confidence! Courage! Love…

Steve Belton
September 18, 2007
Green Valley, Arizona