Drafted into the US Army in 1966 and served in Vietnam from May 1967 to May 1968
from authors notes;
"Bill Nelson is a California poet who has shaped his reflections on love, faith and fighting in the Vietnam War into a contemporary style that is wholly his own. The undulating rhythms made by repeated lines hold the reader within each moment. He venerates the beauty of his roots and the particular graces of the people he loves.

Places in the Mind includes nearly all of his life's poetry and prose from 1964 to the present. In these insightful works, he brings us into the exotic world of his imagination and the deepest places of his heart."