\I first came across Andrea Gibson on Spotify – I was listening to some new music and found a poem of theirs called Your Life. It was a spoken word poem on their struggle with coming to terms with not only their sexuality, but their gender identity as well.
They have written poetry that’s published in the traditional form (i.e books) but they’re also well known for their spoken word as well. Andrea often collaborates with other queer or minority artists to create the music that plays under their poems.
Even though they’re a traditionally a spoken work poet, Andrea also is a part of the instagram poet movement, to an extent. While they promote tours and other upcoming events, their instagram feed is also riddled with short poetry they’ve published to the masses with internet access. This allows for those without access to their books to read the poems that could be just the thing they need to hear.
SOME EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORK
(Image taken from Pinterest.com)
This first poem is one of the first that I read by Gibson. It’s easy to read and even more, it’s relatable! Everyone has that person in their lives who they would do absolutely anything for, especially loving them even when they don’t love themselves. This particular work was written and published in one of their books, but it’s often been taken and produced on images.
(Screenshot from Andrea Gibson’s Instagram)
This is one of their instagram poems. It’s short and simple (as instagram poetry often is) but it resonates deeply. How often do we, as people, find our hearts fluttering when we’re around a specific person, even though we thought that feeling had passed?
Gibson’s work is just so wonderful to anyone who reads it. It’s not just about sexual/gender identity, but it’s about love and hope and the moments that we as humans go through on a daily basis. I highly recommend their work to anyone who’s willing to read. All it takes is a quick look at their instagram page and you’ll be drawn in the same way I was.
SOURCES
Exploring Contemporary Poetry 