Eric Nelson's newest book, Horse Not Zebra, was published in April by Terrapin Books. His six previous poetry collections include Terrestrials, chosen by Maxine Kumin for the X.J. Kennedy Award; The Interpretation of Waking Life, winner of the University of Arkansas Poetry Award, and Some Wonder, which won the 2015 Gival Press Poetry Award. He writes, gardens, and teaches in the Great Smokies Writing Program in Asheville, North Carolina.

Other poems by Eric Nelson in Verse Daily:
September 2, 2004:  "The Reptile House" "A mid-winter, midnight tour, we walked..."

Books by Eric Nelson:

Other poems on the web by Eric Nelson:
Seven poems
"The Creature"
Two poems
Five poems
"Art"
"Inside Weather"
"The Runners"
"Twenty-Five O’Clock"

Eric Nelson's Website.

About Horse Not Zebra:

"Eric Nelson is one of the great walker-poets. Along with Wordsworth, Whitman, and Frank O'Hara, he conjures, engages with, and praises his world of daily walks with his dog and his life at home with his family. As the title suggests, he focuses on the ordinary rather than the exotic-the horse, not the zebra. Out of humble encounters Nelson summons the mysteries of memory and metaphor and the "spontaneous evolving shrine(s)" that show up on the path for those who are alert and looking."
—Maggie Anderson

"BThese wonderful poems capture perfectly, and distinctively, a sensibility very much of our time: witty, yearning, a little battered. They’re rich with insights both tough-minded and humane. Eric Nelson’s quiet narratives, his zinger images, his direct and yet surprising lingo—these will charm you, and they’ll feed your mind and soul. I’ve followed his work for decades and (this is saying a lot) I say, Horse Not Zebra is his best book yet."
—Jeanne Larsen