Celebrating Poet Andrea Gibson

8/13/75 - 7/14/25

“Whenever I leave this world, whether it’s sixty years from now, I wouldn’t want anyone to say I lost some battle. I’ll be a winner that day.” -Andrea Gibson.

Andrea Gibson (they/them), poet and performance artist whose work engaged with gender norms, LGBTQ+ activism, politics, social justice, and their experience with ovarian cancer, died Monday.

As poets and activists ourselves, the entire Rabbits of Realness collective is grateful for the massive amount of kindness and inspiration that Andrea guided into the world through their words. What an example, what a lead to follow. Gibson is proof to all of us that poetry can change the world. It can mend hearts and carry lifesaving meaning. We hope that the weeks to come are filled with tributes to Andrea and their work, and that even more people will feel held by their words, as each of us felt each time we encountered them.

Andrea Gibson has called Colorado home since 1999 and served as Poet Laureate of Colorado since 2023. They were a world-touring spoken word artist, author of seven books of poetry and an inspiration for innumerable people.

Andrea Gibson’s accomplishments reflect both their poetic brilliance and enduring impact. They are a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, the 2008 Women of the World Slam Poet, and a two-time third-place winner at the Individual World Poetry Slams.

In 2021, Andrea publicly shared their diagnosis of ovarian cancer - a moment that marked a new chapter in their creative journey. Rather than retreating, they leaned into the experience, writing poems that grappled with grief, fear, chemotherapy, and a transformed perspective on life. Their vulnerability became a lifeline for others navigating illness and uncertainty.

In 2025, Andrea and their partner Megan Falley were featured in the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White. The film tenderly captures their journey through love, humor, and mortality during Andrea’s cancer diagnosis. Having won three film festival awards, the documentary offers a heartwarming and unexpectedly uplifting experience - proof that even in the face of darkness, light and laughter persist. A director’s talk featuring Andrea and Meg is here.

Image from Andrea Gibson’s website, quote from Gibson.

Letting poetry be the heart of their work but not the extent of it, Andrea and their partner Megan Falley have been involved in numerous activist and support groups. Notable among these are Stay Here With Me and their Substack Things That Don’t Suck. Gibson was featured as a guest speaker on Point of Revelation, Episode 67, (Befriending Mortality), All the Wiser (on self-acceptance and panic attacks) and Good Life Project, constantly reminding everyone to keep living.

Andrea devoted their life to creating safe, inclusive spaces where healing could begin and hope could flourish. In one of their final poems, Love Letter from the Afterlife, they offer a tender message to those still searching for light in life’s darkest corners.

Love Letter from the Afterlife

My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined. So close you look past me when wondering where I am. It’s Ok. I know that to be human is to be farsighted. But feel me now, walking the chambers of your heart, pressing my palms to the soft walls of your living. Why did no one tell us that to die is to be reincarnated in those we love while they are still alive? Ask me the altitude of heaven, and I will answer, “How tall are you?” In my back pocket is a love note with every word you wish you’d said. At night I sit ecstatic at the loom weaving forgiveness into our worldly regrets. All day I listen to the radio of your memories. Yes, I know every secret you thought too dark to tell me, and love you more for everything you feared might make me love you less. When you cry I guide your tears toward the garden of kisses I once planted on your cheek, so you know they are all perennials. Forgive me, for not being able to weep with you. One day you will understand. One day you will know why I read the poetry of your grief to those waiting to be born, and they are all the more excited. There is nothing I want for now that we are so close I open the curtain of your eyelids with my own smile every morning. I wish you could see the beauty your spirit is right now making of your pain, your deep seated fears playing musical chairs, laughing about how real they are not. My love, I want to sing it through the rafters of your bones, Dying is the opposite of leaving. I want to echo it through the corridor of your temples, I am more with you than I ever was before. Do you understand? It was me who beckoned the stranger who caught you in her arms when you forgot not to order for two at the coffee shop. It was me who was up all night gathering sunflowers into your chest the last day you feared you would never again wake up feeling lighthearted. I know it’s hard to believe, but I promise it’s the truth. I promise one day you will say it too– I can’t believe I ever thought I could lose you.

…..

Thank you for being here, wonderful people.

I adore you.

Love, Andrea 🖤

Cover photo for Come See Me in the Good Light, documentary directed by Ryan White. Andrea Gibson, left and partner Megan Falley, right.

While all of us in Rabbits of Realness let our tears flow freely for the passing of this incredible poet, there is also the fire of possibility in our hearts, that our words can help make the world whole too.

Tending to the seeds, and handing out many zines,

Rabbits of Realness