[This story appears in the Nov./Dec. 2026 print-only issue of Boston Spirit magazine. A free subscription is available to you at the end of this story.]
Poet and activist Andrea Gibson’s written and spoken words brought comfort and inspiration to many, particularly those grappling with grief and loss. The late Colorado poet laureate’s verse captured and communicated emotions often too big for words and moments never too small.
Gibson, who died in July 2025 at age 49 after a four-year battle with cancer, continues to strike the emotional chords of fans and followers with their poem, “Love Letter from the Afterlife,” which they wrote, recorded and filmed when they knew they were dying. Many connect deeply with this poem, which begins, “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.” Gibson wrote it for their wife, Megan Falley, who is also a poet and performer.
Falley is the driving force in bringing “Andrea Gibson’s Love Letter to the Afterlife” to audiences around the country in a joyful, multimedia event. The show had its spine-tingling world premiere at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in July. A national tour is now selling out venues coast to coast. The centerpiece is a film of Gibson reading “Love Letter to the Afterlife,” their final live poetry performance, at the Paramount Theatre in Denver in May 2024.
A live orchestra—either the Goosebump Orchestra or, at select dates, a city’s own local symphony orchestra—performs Blake Neely’s original score accompanying the poetry. The result is a deeply immersive experience that expands the poetry beyond the screen as it celebrates Gibson and their creative community.
“Andrea Gibson’s Love Letter to the Afterlife” featuring Falley, The Goosebump Orchestra and special guests, will be at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.; at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass. for two shows (6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.) on Nov. 13; and at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, RI on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Gibson and Falley were the focus of the widely acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2025 documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light,” gay director Ryan White’s intimate, years-long look at the couple’s efforts to grapple with Gibson’s cancer with humor, creativity, love and appreciation of life’s small gifts. Winner of the audience-voted festival favorite award at Sundance, the film was featured at the Independent Film Festival Boston and the Provincetown International Film Festival where it won the audience award for best documentary feature.
Early in the film, which is available on Apple TV, Gibson candidly says, “This is the beginning of a nightmare, I thought … my worst fear come true. But stay with me … because my story is about happiness being easier to find once we realize we do not have forever to find it.”
Gibson’s close friends Stef Willen and Tig Notaro, who produced the film, originally brought the idea of a documentary about Gibson and Falley to the attention of White and his producing partner, Jessica Hargrave. “When I came to them with this movie, I was like, ‘This is my nonbinary friend who is a poet with stage four cancer,’” said Notaro, who also appears in the film, in an interview with IndieWire. “Andrea and Meg loved them immediately. It was on both sides. Ryan and Jessica reached out to me and said, after they met Meg and Andrea, they cried the whole way home, knowing that they were going to lose this person.”
White constructed a tender portrait of Gibson and their evolution as a poet with scenes of Gibson reading some of their most poignant and artful poems that address issues including war, class, bullying, privilege, sexuality and the nature of being American. Their words are woven with archival footage of Gibson’s closeted queer childhood in small-town Maine; enjoying the freedom of playing basketball; and as a young adult who finds their voice through spoken-word poetry.
“Andrea Gibson’s Love Letter from the Afterlife” communicates that death isn’t an end. Friends and guest artists join Falley to transform each show into a here-and-now life-affirming event that honors Gibson’s singular voice in a communal celebration of what it means to be alive.
More: statetheatreportland.com; somervilletheatre.com; thevetsri.com