Three Poems by Andrew Searle

Three poems from Cornish pastoral poet and queer activist Andrew Searle.

CREATIONIST

the ocean is too big to be one thing
she is giant salt strewn presence
he is gentle and seashell
hidden seaglass
adorned
on silver rings
in ears on fingers on lips
they hold me in their ever loving embrace
shifting and changing
but constant
as brine

top surgery scars
become lines in the sand
healing marked by the dark wet seaweed
line of the spring high tide
wetsuit is nothing
compared to
my bare
tattooed
skin

seaweed
floating in symbiosis
with my cells myopic jungle
in the open eyed salt strung view
of the world beneath the
water heart beating
in tune
with the waves
and the submersion
of my soul plunge pool into deep
pressure sea moon-pulled
and low exposing
the secrets
of the tidal pools

vastness means everything but
also the end of the world
and the start of all
creation

hold my hand

jump with me
feel the absolute suspense
turning from jumping to falling
mid air

strike the water and shock
immersion bubbles streaming
you're sinking
and stillness

you are held within this place
only there mind present
breath held
wishing it could last forever

Icarus Bound

the sea deliciously shrouded by mist and longing
the sky inlaid with pearl, and the clouds a lion's breath
with fingers of gods reaching down
to make gold of the ocean

sunsets are majestic in their spontaneity
the best ones are those you catch glimpses of
the straining moment right before you fall
sweetest, in fleeting flash of gold

and then that stomach thrilled freedom
of falling through salt flecked air
a dizzy breathe before the plunge
into salt spray

the muddled sky, a second reflection
one of sinking belonging
weighted feathers, wax melting
and a sun-born halo extinguished

the call of the ocean is too much in the end
not the rush of the exhilarated sun
but the great depths of unknown
seeking just a closer look upon oblivion

and a hand, reaching out
to grasp, before the fall

About the poet

Sometimes described as a pastoral poet, Andrew Searle is a writer, queer activist and community leader living in Falmouth. He is a practicing witch, and his work is incredibly inspired by the Cornish sea and landscape. In 2025 he was awarded second place in the Penryn Poet Laureate, and his work can be found in publications from Aspier, t’ART and Haunted Words Press.

Words: Andrew Searle (he/him).