Empid Mnemonics
Chuck Stebelton
POETRY / EPHEMERA
A memory device from birding lore, Empid Mnemonics is composed of five North American Flycatcher songs to relearn each spring and summer. These Empidonax flycatchers endearingly (or maddeningly) distinguish themselves by voice. Alder asking, "rreeBEEa," Willow answering, "RITZbew." Acadian, "spit-a-KEET!" They are otherwise notoriously difficult to tell apart.
Designed to take into the field wherever Acadian (Empid. virescens), Alder (Empid. alnorum), Least (Empid. minimus), Willow (Empid. traillii), or Yellow-bellied (Empid. flaviventris) might be heard.
DETAILS
June 2025
Edition of 150
4x6 in.
Letterpress printed card with envelope.
Chuck Stebelton is author most recently of One Hundred Patterns & Three Heuristics (Green Gallery Press, 2023). His previous poetry collections include An Apostle Island (Oxeye Press, 2021), The Platformist (Cultural Society, 2012), and Circulation Flowers (Tougher Disguises, 2005). He currently serves as Director of Special Projects & Initiatives at Woodland Pattern, a nonprofit literary arts organization in Milwaukee. As a Wisconsin Master Naturalist volunteer, he has led workshops and field trips for nonprofit organizations and conservancy groups including Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters; Milwaukee Public Library; Woodland Pattern Book Center; Friends of Lorine Niedecker; and Lynden Sculpture Garden. He recently completed an ARTservancy artist residency with River Revitalization Foundation and has held residencies at Lynden Sculpture Garden in 2011, 2014, and from 2018 to 2025.
More Oxeye Press titles from the author:
A Patch of Green to Refresh the Eyes
An Apostle Island
Riparia riparia