Mountain Song

by Nicholas Trandahl

In Mountain Song, Nicholas Trandahl offers up poems of wildness and prayer. In his accessible and honest lines, Trandahl grapples with complex subjects—from his conflicted time as a soldier in the Middle East, to studies of art and music, to his earnest search for truth in the high country of the American West. The lines in Mountain Song are inhabited by saints, beasts, and pilgrims which wander the transformative terrain of mountains, deserts, and dreams. These are poems about how we are broken and the journeys that make us whole again.

Genres: Poetry

105 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2022

About the author

Nicholas Trandahl is a poet, journalist, outdoorsman, and U. S. Army veteran. He lives in Wyoming with his wife and daughters. He has had four poetry collections and a novel published. His most recent poetry collection is Mountain Song.
Trandahl’s poetry collection Bravery was the recipient of the 2019 Wyoming Writers Milestone Award, and his poem “Francis and Sistani” was nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in various literary journals, including but not limited to the James Dickey Review, Sky Island Journal, High Plains Register, The Dewdrop, Duck Head Journal, Resurrection Magazine, Dreich Magazine, Voices de la Luna, Deep Wild Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Twenty Bellows, and anthologies from Middle Creek Publishing, Wee Sparrow Poetry Press, and the New York Quarterly.
Additionally, Trandahl serves as the Chairman of the annual Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest and is the poetry editor for the literary journal The Dewdrop.

Reviews

[Heather Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Trandahl has been one of my favorite living poets for nearly a decade. But this collection is a step above his other ones. In Mountain Song, Trandahl explores what it is to be a wild, nature loving spirit in a fast-paced, confining world. He delves into our modern relationship with nature and with each other, and he does so with gorgeous word choices and stunning metaphors. My favorite poem in this collection is Strangers Holding Hands. I've read it several times and every time it brought me to tears. If you only read one poetry collection this year, make it this one.

[Ingrid Calderon-Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this collection once through, holding my breath—exhaling. Leaving me nostalgic for things I'll never know. The second read was much more methodical—calmer, a spell. I swallowed the imagery and let my eyes digest them. I walked in Trandahl's shoes, became the añejo. The collection feels like a beautifully fragmented mind. One that knows its ghosts and has made friends with them. A man who understands the small pleasures and the majesty of being alive to experience them. However beautiful. However tragic.

[Mandie Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another satisfying poetry collection from Nicholas Trandahl. This collection travels through the seasons, starting in winter and ending in fall. The threat of violence is an underlying thread throughout the poems, whether from nature, even in its beauty, or from man. And sometimes the violence is not hidden or a threat but out in the open and imminent. There are so many lovely poems in this collection and a great many that readers will mark as their favorites. My favorite was "Come Home, Ghost."

[Jason Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read. The author explores religious themes in this collection. It stretches you and calls for all of us to search for Truth in both a beautiful and chaotic world.

[Colton Babladelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully raw collection, such vivid imagery that you could smell the campfire smoke, hear the wind through the trees, and taste the whiskey.