Nothing But The Poem – Andrea Gibson
January 2026
When Andrea Gibson died from cancer in 2025 it was a huge loss to the poetry community worldwide. Her poetry resonated deeply with a wide audience of readers and inspired many of her fellow poets. In an essay/tribute to Andrea on the Poetry Foundation website, Amber Tamblyn wrote:
“Andrea was that rare breed of writer whose deep compassion for the human condition was limitless, potent, and unequivocal. Their poems were diverse and wide-ranging in theme, and they wrote with unvarnished honesty and integrity about American racism, and the privileges of being white, albeit queer…”
In this edition of Nothing But The Poem two of Andrea’s poems are featured. Our regular podcast host, Samuel Tongue, after discussing the poems with the Friends of the SPL group, who meet monthly on Zoom, takes his customary deep dive.
The two poems by Andrea Gibson read on the podcast, and discussed in depth, are:
1. IN THE CHEMO ROOM, I WEAR MITTENS MADE OF ICE SO I DON’T LOSE MY FINGERNAILS. BUT I TOOK A RISK TODAY TO WRITE THIS DOWN. (Read the poem here).
2. INSTEAD OF DEPRESSION (Read the poem here).