Man Afield

by Jim Krosschell

Man Afield is a lyrical journey through the living world, guided by a backyard naturalist attuned to both wonder and warning. These poems chronicle spiritual and physical excursions into landscapes larger than any one mind or body - places where awe, joy, disorientation, and reckoning intertwine.

Organized in six evocative sections, the

I. bears witness from a seaside deck;

II. wanders through yard and neighboring woods;

III. explores the shifting shoreline;

IV. imagines the vast and restless ocean;

V. surveys the scars of environmental damage;

VI. honors home in its many meanings.



Throughout, the poems dwell in the charged space where humans and the natural world meet. They examine our peculiar we are the only species that knowingly fouls its own nest - and the only one capable of choosing restraint. With clear-eyed honesty, Man Afield mourns the grinding erosion of precious places while celebrating the stubborn beauty that persists despite us - and sometimes because of us.

From deck to forest trail, from tidal pull to smoke-streaked sky, these poems trace one person's evolving relationship with plants, animals, weather, memory, and spirit. Intimate yet expansive, they invite readers to travel outward into the wild and inward toward belonging.

Man Afield is at once a field journal, a meditation, and a love song - to earth, to home, and to the fragile bond between them.

81 pages, Paperback

Published March 20, 2026

About the author

Jim Krosschell has published poems and essays in some 85 journals, plus two essay collections: One Man's Maine, which won a Maine Literary Award, and Owls Head Revisited. He lives in Deer Isle, ME and Newton, MA, and volunteers on Boards for Coastal Mountains Land Trust and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

Reviews

[Munmun Samanta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Man Afield" is a meditation on humility. The poet repeatedly diminishes the human ego by placing it alongside mites, birds, ants, and leaves. This levelling is not meant to humiliate humanity but to re-situate it as one species among many, not the master of all. There is a quiet spiritual undercurrent. Though sceptical of organised religion and inherited doctrines, Krosschell’s reverence for the natural world reveals his ecological spirituality. He shows that moments of grace occur not in churches but in hammocks, on decks, beside bays, and under trees. These poems remind me of the style and themes of Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, and Jorie Graham. But what keeps Krosschell's voice distinct is his wry, self-critical style, which whisks humour and satire on the same canvas. Blending surrealism with introspective contemplation, these poems weave a narrative that engages readers on every line.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. I couldn't really get into this type of poetry. I like a little more depth in my poetry. It looks like the author was "trying" express some sort of depth in writing about his observations of various parts of nature, but, it just fell short for me. But, others may find value in it, so that's why I give it 3/5 stars.