Table of Contents
in Chronological Order
This a long post, but it gives you links to everything I have published on Substack so far. Each title is a clickable link. Updated 11.29.2023.
November 28, 2023, Selected Articles by Robert Sparks Walker https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/selected-articles
November 26, 2023, Hiking the Cumberlands https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/hiking-in-the-cumberlands
November 24, 2023, Poetry of Robert Sparks Walker https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/poetry-of-robert-sparks-walker
November 22, 2023, Robert Sparks Walker https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/robert-sparks-walker
November 21, 2023, Invocation https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/invocation
November 19, 2023, Fly Fishing https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/fly-fishing includes the poems,”Fly Fishing,” “Flying Fish,” and “Wren.”
November 14, 2023, “Hearth and Home” is a set of poems that were included in the 2023 edition of The Mildred Haun Review. The set includes, “Hearth and Home,” “Mike,” “Advice in Time of Plague,” and “The Golden Hour.” Includes audio files and a photo of geese flying across a sunset.
November 8, 2023, “ The River” includes the poem of the same title and the poem “Recipe for Love.” I also included a photo of rapids on Big Soddy Creek, an audio clip of each of the poems, and a link to an older post I updated with an audio clip.
November 6, 2023, “Times Geography,” includes text and a video clip of me reciting the poem. I also included the poem “Dream of the River,” and the poem “Coyoteland,” with an audio clip of me reading it. I used a stunning monochrome photo of the waterfall at Cloudland Canyon State Park.
November 2, 2023, “The Wendigo’s Way” includes three poems, “The Wendigo’s Way,” “Full Speed Ahead,” and “Rock.” It also includes a video with part of the poem “The Wendigo’s Way,” and a spooky picture of me.
October 31, 2023, “Happy Halloween” includes a video of me reciting the poem “Moonbeam,” and the text of three poems, “Moonbeam,” “Dance,” and “Reincarnation.”
October 27, 2023, “The Birds of Heaven” includes a review of Peter Matthiessen’s book of the same title, and my photo of Sandhill Cranes at Hiwassee Refuge
October 24, 2023, “Poems from the Avocet,” includes a photograph of a Mockingbird and four of my poems that were included in “The Weekly Avocet:” “Mockingbird,” “21st Century Inferno,” “Primal” and “Chicxulub Inferno” subtitled “Champy’s Story.”
October 19, 2023, “More Form Poems,” includes “Nature’s Decorum,” a cascade poem, “Hellbender,” a Pantoum, “Sonnet III,” and “Sonnet II – Social Distancing,”
October 18, 2023, “A Matter of Form” includes “Villanelle for the Didgeridoo,” “Vanishing Migrant,” a Pantoum, “Full Speed Ahead,” a poem in heroic couplets, and “Water,” a free verse poem.
October 14, 2023, “Address to Cranes,” is a personal essay celebrating cranes and my response to their presence.
October 8, 2023, “Jeff Biggers, Spokesperson for Appalachia ” is a literary essay about contemporary author, Jeff Biggers.
October 6, 2023, “Fall Writing Workshop,” is a program announcement for the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild. I am the current president.
October 4, 2023, “Surprise Arrivals and Departures” is a chapter drawn from my Cape Cod Journal, the story of a year I spent on the Cape. It describes events from December 4, 1986.
September 28, 2023, “Port Authority,” is a performance piece I presented years ago.
September 26, 2023, “Bull Gator’s Lament” is also a performance piece written, performed, and likely videotaped for YouTube by an audience member.
September 22, 2024 “Thirteen Ways to Smell a Tree” is a comment on a book by contemporary author, David George Haskell.
September 19, 2023, “Walking the Labyrinth” is a poem written after a walking meditation.
September 14, 2023, “Writing the Natural World,” is a list of works I have enjoyed reading with brief comments on each.
September 12, 2024, “Primal” includes four poems, “Primal,” “21st. Century Inferno,” “The Remnants flee the Asteroid,” and “Mockingbird.”
September 7, 2023, Postcard from Hiwassee Island is an essay written after observing the Sandhill Cranes at Hiwassee Refuge.
September 5, 2023, Annual Chincoteague Pony Roundup is an article about the wild ponies of Assateague Island, originally published by Cappers of Topeka, Kansas.
September 3, 2023, The Cabin on the Bluff is a short story that won an honorable mention in the Tennessee Mountain Writers’ 2023 contest.
August 31, 2023, Ron Rash: Bard of the Carolina Highlands is an updated article about the author Ron Rash.
August 29, 2023, Franklin Burroughs: Bard of the Coastal Plain is an updated article about the author, Franklin Burroughs.
August 27, 2023, “A View of the Wild,” is a previously published review of the book Vintage Lopez.
August 23, 2023, “A Visit to Little River Canyon” is a previously published article about the Little River Canyon near Mentone, Alabama.
August 21, 2023 “Roots of Southern Nature Writing” is an overview of the historic nature writers Bartram, Michaux, and Catesby.
August 17, 2023, Custer and the Buffalo is a set of poems including “Buffalo Bull Addresses the Crowd at Yellowstone National Park,” “Nature’s Decorum,” and “Custer at the Little Bighorn.”
August 16, 2023, Nature’s Voice is an essay on the destructive forces of nature.
August 14, 2023, Finn Bille’s Danish American Poetry is an updated review of Finn’s book, The King’s Coin, previously published in The Chattanooga Pulse.
August 12, 2023, America’s Giant Salamander is an interview with Dr. Brian Miller, Hellbender researcher, previously published in The Hellbender Press.
August 11, 2023, More Poems is a set of three poems, including “A Chattanooga Lookout,” “The Hellbender,” and “Repurposed Clothing.“
August 10, Poems of Abundance and Shortage is a set of three poems including “The Wendigo’s Way,” “Rain,” and “Grace Note.”
August 9, 2023 The Journey So Far” is a topical directory of entries before that date.
August 8, 2023, Family is a work of fiction previously published in the Mildred Haun Review.
August 5, 2023, Orange is a selection of three poems, “Orange,” “Full Speed Ahead,” and “Spirit Bird.”
August 4, 2023, What’s Your Genre is a story about the writing process.
August 2, 2023, Traveling Okefenokee is a diary from a weekend trip to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
August 1, 2023, Missing Mountains is a review of an anthology of works by Kentucky authors in support of Citizens for the Commonwealth, a group opposed to mountaintop removal mining. Featured writers include Silas House and Wendell Berry.
Jul 31, 2023, The Tonic of Wilderness is a memoir of caring for my elderly father and the healing power of nature.
July 29, 2023, J. Drew Lanham: Black Birdwatcher, Scientist, and Poet is an author profile.
July 28, 2023, Margaret Renkl Writes about Southern Culture and the Natural World is an author profile.
July 27, 2023, The Story Behind Glen Falls Trail includes a photo of the falls, the poem Glen Falls Trail, and a verified link to the story “How I Became a Poet,” published in Waxing and Waning.
July 27, 2023, “Marilou Awiatka Speaks for a Living Culture” is a discussion of the published works of Appalachian/Cherokee author Mailou Awiatka.
July 17, 2923, “Writing Chattanooga: Southern by Nature” is a brief discussion of some historic Chattanooga-based nature writing, including Robert Sparks Walker, Emma Bell Miles, Mary, Q Steele, and Spring Notes from Tennessee by Bradford Torrey.
July 16, 2023, Life After Writing is a spoof on writing groups, editing, and the publishing process.
July 14, 2023, Guild Trail is a brief story about a hiking trail near my home in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
July 13, 2023, Everglades Journal Concluded finishes the Everglades journal.
July 11, 2023, Everglades Journal 1991 is the first half of a diary written during a week-long adventure in the Everglades National Park.
July 7, 2023, Birds at Hiwassee Refuges is a haiban travel journal modeled on the works of Matsuo Basho.
July 6, 2923, The Names of Trees includes a photograph of my father in his later years and a poem in which a forest fire parallels his journey into dementia.
July 5, 2023, Amorous Alligators includes a photograph of an American Alligator and a poem about alligators in mating season. The poem is titled “Prom Night.”
July 3, 2023, Spirit Bird includes a photograph of a Sandhill Crane and the poem “Spirit Bird.”
June 27, 2023, A Living River is the story of migratory species on Cape Cod, which is both a barrier and a haven.
June 22, 2023, A Large Migrant is the story of my encounter with whales on Cape Cod Bay.
June 21, 2023 The Search for the Red-throated Loon illustrates bird life and bird watching at Cape Cod.
June 20, 2023, First Impressions: My Cape Cod Adventure Continues is the story of me settling in at the educational facility where I would live and work for most of a year.
June 17, 2023, Owl Aboard is a short journalistic piece about rehabilitating an injured saw-whet owl.
June 16, 2023, Cape Cod Days: Arrival is the first of a series of stories drawn from my 1986 and 1987 journals kept during a ten-month stay on Cape Cod.
June 15, 2023, Why Oaks is a discussion of oaks as a symbol of Southern landscapes. I originally planned to name my Substack account “Under the Oaks,” but that didn’t work out.