BLACK AND YELLOW NOTEBOOKS

(2018 / 2021)

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE

B L A Z E V O X [ B O O K S ]
Buffalo, New York
Black and Yellow Notebooks
by Stephen Ratcliffe
Copyright © 2023

Published by BlazeVOX [books]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced without the publisher’s written
permission, except for brief quotations in reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

Interior design and typesetting by Geoffrey Gatza

Art: photo of author, David Bernstein.
Artwork on p8. Isosceles Peak, 2023, photo collage.
Stephen Ratcliffe and Oona Ratcliffe

First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-60964-435-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023935370

BlazeVOX [books]
131 Euclid Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217
Editor@blazevox.org

publisher of weird little books

BlazeVOX [ books ]

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BLACK AND YELLOW NOTEBOOKS
(2018 / 2021)
Black Notebook
blue green turquoise lake

eleven thousand

feet triangular

rock on granite ledge

first sunlight against

red orange of peaks

sound of rock falling

man in turquoise shirt

reaching for iPhone

in pocket it’s gone

walks back down mountain

not there circular

Meysan Lake below

scree slope Lone Pine Peak

over there LeConte

Peak Mallory Col

yellow down jacket

leaning back against

shadowed granite rock

wondering whether

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someone was sitting

in garden heading

from Upper Crabtree

Lake to Crabtree Pass

descend steep scree slope

following cairn trail

all the way down snow

field with suncups no

one has been here this

year cloudless blue sky

line of granite peaks

wind rippling from left

to right across sky

blue lake below it

sound of it moving

against vertical

granite faces jet

passing overhead

pink red light coming

into sky above

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vertical wall

granite peaks early

morning wind blowing

across shadowed lake

diagonal ridge

line across from it

getting light at 5:00

line of ridge through trees

one bird makes one note

calling to whom to

me to its mate then

others starting up

constant sound water

falling onto rocks

last night dreams and sleep

someone driving home

Tioga Pass now

open again air clear

to peaks Cathedral

Conness Pothole Dome

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then Medlicott Dome

Tenaya Lake smoke

people in water

wading like shadow

figures grey surface

wind rippling across

water smoke in throat

can’t see Half Dome clouds

east invisible

green of trees on rock

slope air better now

can see more trees on

ridge tops some blue sky

whiteness of clouds rocks

patches of lichen

here and there and I’m

here too you are there

too are you I wonder

when did this fire start

burning trees landscape

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gone up in smoke clouds

of smoke are you still

there I wonder man

on mountain breathing

fresh altitude air

is thinner up there

hiking up trail or

some steep slope loose rocks

coming down when foot

steps in wrong place or

hand pulls boulder comes

crashing down toward his

left hand leg ankle

or worse head neck ends

his life but didn’t

he survived it and

maybe learned something

testing each hand and

foot hold don’t take eyes

off trail look out where

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you’re going are you

still there I wonder

again G P S

says Guitar Lake just

over there it says

but when I look I

see vertical ridge

not possible to

go there that way just

look up from the phone

to what’s in front of

you smoke in my eyes

and nose and throat now

still thinking of this

in these syllables

writing in notebook

in cream-colored car

driving down road where

once before road was

blocked people searching

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for missing person who

wasn’t ever found

man looking for chap

stick headlamp tent poles

dark glasses sunscreen

too hot yesterday

cold last night before

trees burned beside road

speed limit reduced

twenty-five miles per

hour charred slope cut stumps

fire fighters working

to contain the flames

fourteen others still

burning elsewhere all

over the west they

say trees still standing

here dead after years

of not enough rain

otherwise called drought

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some call it climate

change some deny it

is caused by human

beings doing what

ever they want to

whenever they can

almighty dollar

environmental

catastrophe in

the making is well

under way now is

still so beautiful

way up high there in

the mountains there you

feel free are you still

there now I wonder

I hope so cell phone

still on mountain fell

out of right pocket

making some move up

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some exposed granite

rock above Meysan Lake

on the way up to

the top of the ridge

13,000 feet

between Mount LeConte

and Mount Mallory

down to unnamed lake

then over Crabtree

Pass down to Middle

Crabtree Lake next day

sleeping out under

black sky filled with stars

first light on ridge when

I wake open eyes

see what’s there head toward

Guitar Lake shaped like

actual guitar

sleep out above it

by small unnamed lake

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wake up to sky full

of millions of stars

suddenly orange

fire ball Perseid

meteor streaking

north to south against

midnight sky then gone

wake up 4 AM

pack up in the dark

no headlamp climbing

up trail toward Trail

Crest first light coming

into sky above

distant western ridge

tip of distant peak

some people leave packs

leaning on rocks before

two more miles up to

summit of Whitney

cold north wind blowing

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14,000 plus

feet summit cloudless

bright blue sky above

granite slabs above

whole world Iceberg Lake

2,000 feet straight

down I was here in

1962

with my father and

two brothers and their

two friends and our dog

Pingo means Peaceful

Dog in Chinese my

mother told us I

still have a photo

showing us standing

there at Trail Camp

my father in white

V-neck tee shirt and

straw hat looking out

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into space I think

of him now on top

of Mount Whitney where

I will leave the last

bits of his ashes

some day maybe next

summer when I come

up here again with

my son Johnny named

after my father

John Waldo Ratcliffe

his name also John

Waldo Ratcliffe II

tears in my eyes now

thinking of being

here then and also

present now looking

out across whole world

breathing the mountain

air thinking of you

August 5 - 10, 2018

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