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STURTEVANT

Chuck Stebelton
Yes. I remember Sturtevant.
And the cabbage whites replicate.
And the green cutleaf coneflower
And pollen in the quiet car in September.

And the killdeer ringing out
And the super moon and the slow train.
And the rare lupine. And the abundant blue
And scarcity. Double trouble.

And compass plant, cup plant, and phlox.
And Joe-pye weed, and prairie dock.

"Mares tails and mackerel skies.
Never long wet, never long dry."

And the silver spotted skipper
And the sudden clear winged moth
And the bee balm, also bergamot
Of Sturtevant and Union Grove.
Madison Poet Laureate, Madison Public Library Poet-in-Residence
Why I chose this poem: 

Chuck Stebelton is author of An Apostle Island (Oxeye Press, 2020) and two previous full-length collections of poetry. He served as Literary Program Director at Woodland Pattern Book Center from 2005 to 2017. As a Wisconsin Master Naturalist volunteer he has offered interpretive hikes for conservancy groups and arts organizations including Friends of Cedarburg Bog, Milwaukee Audubon Society, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Friends of Lorine Niedecker, and the Lynden Sculpture Garden. He edits Partly Press for Lynden Sculpture Garden and is currently a participant in Lynden's residency program.

Poem source: 

Through This Door: Wisconsin in Poems

Through This Door