In the end, Andrea Gibson’s heart was covered in stretch marks.
That was the way the Colorado state poet laureate, queer activist and internationally touring spoken-word artist said they wanted to leave this Earth, according to their loved ones — with a life full of love so big and enduring, it couldn’t be contained.
Gibson, 49, died early Monday morning in their Boulder home surrounded by their wife Megan Falley, four ex-girlfriends, their parents, dozens of friends and three beloved dogs, according to an announcement on their Facebook page.
They were diagnosed with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer in 2021.
The message from Gibson’s wife and family said one of the last things they said was, “I (expletive) loved my life.”
Readers and fans of Gibson’s work — poetry books and spoken-word collections — offered an outpouring of love, grief and touching tributes Monday about how the poet’s words found them at just the right time. Some said Gibson’s work saved them, while others said it gave them permission to be their authentic selves.
Gibson was a native of Maine who moved to Colorado in the late 1990s. In 2023, Gov. Jared Polis announced that Gibson had been named Colorado’s 10th poet laureate, a role created to promote poetry appreciation in the state and honor local wordsmiths. At the time, Gibson said they hoped to bring poetry to the masses.
“Renowned for inspiring poetry, advocacy for arts in education, and unique ability to connect with the vast and diverse poetry lovers of Colorado, Andrea was truly one of a kind and will be deeply missed by personal friends as well (as) all who were touched by their poetry,” Polis said in a statement Monday. “My thoughts go out to Andrea’s loved ones during this difficult time.”
Gibson was recently the subject of the award-winning documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light,” which follows the poet and their wife as they navigate the cancer diagnosis, love and art. The film, directed by Ryan White, won the Sundance Film Festival’s Festival Favorite Award this year and is scheduled to air on Apple TV+ this fall.
The film includes an original song written by Gibson, Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile. During a screening at Sundance in January that left much of the audience in tears, Gibson said they didn’t expect to live long enough to see the documentary.
Bareilles shared a photo on social media Monday of herself wearing a gold necklace with the word “Andrea” in cursive. Gibson was “a wonder to behold and be held by,” Bareilles wrote. “This one is forever.”
Love. Loss. Illness. Hope. Social justice. Gender. Gibson’s writing spanned the gamut of emotions, making readers laugh one line and weep the next.
Their work — immortalized in YouTube videos and on vinyl records, and tattooed on people’s bodies — garnered fans across the globe.
Jacy Deck, 46, found Gibson’s work a few years ago, buying the 2021 book “You Better Be Lightning” first, then snapping up all the work that came before it. Her copies are well-loved with earmarks and highlights, and annotations throughout.
The Oklahoma resident drove hours to Denver last year to watch Gibson perform at the Paramount Theatre with comedian and writer Tig Notaro. While here, Deck got a tattoo to commemorate the evening when a theater full of people became family.
“It was not a small theater, but it was amazingly intimate,” Deck said. “For the time they were performing, we were not strangers.”
Deck had a Gibson line — “Grief astronomer, adjust the lens” — permanently inked on her skin to remind her that sometimes all you needed was a change of perspective.
“At different times in my life, I’ve been both the astronomer and the person needing a different perspective,” she said.
When Deck heard about Gibson’s death, she said she burst into tears. She took the rest of the day off work, too rattled to continue.
“Their work is heart-wrenching, and I mean that in the best way possible,” Deck said. “It’s heartbreaking in a good way. It cracks you open so you can love more. Like most great writers, it feels intensely personal yet universal at the same time.”
Floridian Alaina Bruni, 28, told The Denver Post that she found Gibson’s work as an angsty teenager. Gibson’s poems were raw and real, Bruni said, and spoke to her in a way she didn’t know poetry could. She found herself captivated by grainy YouTube videos of Gibson’s famed slam poetry.
“The way they spoke made me feel seen,” Bruni said.
Gibson got Bruni interested in poetry and the arts. Bruni had the pleasure of watching Gibson perform live a few times over the years and covets the signed books she will forever treasure.
“The Nutritionist” is Bruni’s favorite poem by Gibson. It begins, “The nutritionist said I should eat root vegetables.”
“I’ll think of them every time I eat carrots,” Bruni said.
In a 2023 interview with The Post, Gibson said their cancer diagnosis allowed them to tap into how the “brevity of this life” gifted them “awe and joy and astonishment.”
Gibson wrote extensively about death and grief. It becomes difficult to memorialize Gibson without referring back to their own work.
“Not long ago, Andrea wrote a poem titled ‘Love Letter From the Afterlife,’” their loved ones wrote on Facebook. “In it, they offered this line: ‘I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined.’ Today, and all days forward, we hope you feel Andrea’s enormous spirit and immense presence beside you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Originally Published: July 14, 2025 at 12:48 PM MDT
