Andrea Gibson - Living Proof
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
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Andrea Gibson, performing at Fine Line in Minneapolis, MN.
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Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.
"Heaven is in the other direction. Please do not let gravity play god."
Andrea Gibson is one of the greatest poets, if not the greatest poet around. They have such a magnificent way with words.
This is definitely not the first time they’ve reduced me to tears. Such a talent
"They"? Listen to yourself
@@RealityCheck6T9 That's what Andrea prefers.
totally.... just silly
@@issajoke2437 Today on a whim I looked Andrea Gibson up for the first time in at least 6 years and at first I thought they were kinda cliche and wondered why I'd been so into them back when I was on tumblr in like 2013. I always thought Andrea Gibson was a she, and probably 6 years ago I would've just called them "she" regardless of her wishes. But I've grown since then, and by the end of the video I was kinda enthralled again, and I scrolled down to see what people thought about it and saw this exchange. Are you a fan of theirs? If so, do you feel inconvenienced that they prefer to be referred to as "they"? Maybe "she" doesn't accurately encompass what they think they are. Maybe their reasons are private, I don't know. Again, I haven't been in the loop for years but as soon as I saw this thread I was like "oh, good for them" and I would've gone about my day if it hadn't have been for this...hostility. It boggles my mind and I just genuinely wanna know why your reaction to Hazel's comment was what it was. Like, do you wanna talk about it, please?
@@AbeoLyve PREACH
“Spending too much of your life just holding yourself together... I’ve known that since the first time I tried to die” 🤯🤯 this hit me hard 🤦🏾♀️
I was so low I had to look up to see rock bottom...... Amazing
Weer
Jacob Houston ghosted by hope...
That was my favorite line too.
“The last time I tried to return myself to sender”... damn.
“My eyes locked on him like two screeching red lights that would stop screaming stop stop stop”
“I didn’t even know him but I know it would’ve killed me to watch him die”
“My butterflies aren’t gone their just in someone else stomachs”
Your a gift from heaven
Never forget that
When they said they've been told God doesn't tolerate them, I cried. He does tolerate you. I am a Christian, I am bisexual, and God loves me. And God loves you so much. He sees you, his child, and he loves you.
God loves you, Christianity does not.
Too bad god doesn't exist ayyy lmao
@@mizslcarr9795 to you perhaps
@@mizslcarr9795 Bro.
Indeed. The Church teaches this. 💖
Just the simple phrase "I can't remember the last time someone commented on my sunny disposition..." struck a few heartstrings for me because I've been thinking about how I don't go through life with a smile on my face all the time as I used to when I was younger and it makes me sadder than I already am. Andrea always seems to cause these kinds of realizations for me.
you are oh so loved
I have a few happy friends
I ask them about being happy the same way my high school friends ask me about being gay
So what do you people do exactly?
How do you do it?
Their answers are never as freaky as I would hope
Almost always the answer god or booze
One I don’t tolerate and the other I’m told doesn’t tolerate me
I’m fascinated with this idea of getting high on life
I imagine people on their backs in fields of lilacs
Snorting the lines the planes leave in the sky
Waking with honeymoons in their bloodstream
Me, I often feel like the vaccine for goosebumps
So low I flipped her old dictionaries where gay still means happy
And I say “well if it were 1822 I’d be like the happiest”
I can’t remember the last time someone commented on my sunny disposition
That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to juice the sun for every holy drop
I know it is it’s own Injury
Spending too much of your life just holding yourself together
I’ve known that since the first time I tried to die
I was too ashamed to go back and get the stitches out on time
So the stitches scarred as badly as the wound
It’s the one part of me I never stop thinking ugly
20 tiny holes framing a would be flatline
I still can’t look at without seeing the light going out in the tunnels of my best friends eyes
While she watched the doctors needle
Close the letter I’d sworn to never send
The last and I mean the last time I tried to return myself to sender
Was a year ago this June
After 5 months so sick I was certain my stomach would never know a butterfly again
I got so low I had to look up to see rock bottom
And ghosted by hope I got in my car and started driving towards a dead end
A cliff that had been my back up plan if ever the pain got stronger than I am
Now I gotta let you know this is a true story
On my way to end that day I was already half gone
Clumps of my own hair on the dashboard from me failing to weed the hell from my mind
I was sobbing and snaking around my own neck when I looked up from the steering wheel
And saw a stranger above me on the overpass holding on to the wrong side of the rail with one hand
His arm as taut as a kite string
About to lift his body into the air and fly into four rows of traffic
This stranger and I had the same idea
But as soon as I saw him my eyes locked on him like two screeching red lights
That wouldn’t stop begging stop stop stop
I was the last car to pass before the fire trucks and ambulances raced to clot the vein of traffic
To tourniquet the road
So when the man jumped his body wouldn’t graveyard the windshield of someone driving home
With their baby in the back seat
I watched rescue workers run to try and talk him off the ledge
While I shot out of my car behind the overpass and circled in the madness of being a twister
Praying for someone’s son to not go down
Pacing and the mind mangle of being someone on my way to die
Stopping to ask somebody else not to
I’ll never know if he saw me
But I was haunting the ground
Punching my hands into the tornado of my grief to grab every piece of my lost mind
So I could get my footing long enough to beg the air beneath this man to catch him like a snowflake on the tongue
A tongue that might also whisper sweet sweet soul
Heaven is in the other direction
Please don’t make gravity play god
I’ve heard there are fields, acres of lilacs like peddled Purple Hearts
Blooming only to pull us through and all you have to do is haul your name into a canyon and hear someone else’s name echo back
and never in my life did I want more to keep my blood blue
That I want more to live than when I looked up and saw myself and someone else trying to become the sky
I didn’t even know him but i know it would have killed me to watch him die
So at 12:31 when he decided not to
When he came down
When the road opened I did too
My whole heart my whole mind went home with living proof of what I’d only before known in theory
That we are truly not alone in this
That our veins are absolutely strings tied to other people’s kites
That my butterfly’s aren’t gone, they’re just flying around in someone else’s belly
Sometimes I pray right now they’re with that stranger
I pray he’s goosebumped by a mountain range of joy
I praise high on the long line rivered across the country of his open palm
Held out the window while driving and singing along to a strangers favourite song that he suddenly know all the words to
But doesn’t know why
Thank you😊❤
We love you Andrea, I am a gay man in Africa, so I have a different understanding of your poems,I love you do much
Thank you so muchh
4:24 went home with living proof of what I had only before known in theory, that we are truly not alone in this
I can't stop crying.
I'm crying with too, Mary.
Last 30 seconds are absolutely beautiful imagery. "Mountain range of joy" just has a nice ring to it.
Do you think Andrea knows how many people they've saved? Their count for quite literally saving my life is 3. 3 times. And there won't be any more. "The last time, and I mean the last time". I've rarely witnessed a person verbalise not just their own soul, but millions of others. I feel blessed to exist at the same time as them. And if youre reading this, and you're there right now, I'm glad you're here too
"please don't make gravity play god" that hit me hard
lifeasjulesxo what does that line mean? I don’t really understand it :/
lindseyxo She wants the guy to live. He is holding onto a rail, once he lets go gravity will cause him to fall to his death once he makes the choice to let go. There is no escaping it. She’s saying don’t let gravity (I.e the force that will cause you to fall and die) play God (as in make the decision for you, no escape, fate, your destiny, etc). She’s saying don’t let go. Don’t let gravity be the story of you. Hold on.
@@crystalbeth1400 you're such an explanator. So detailed.🔥💖
This made me cry. Andrea does it EVERY time. Wow.
“i was so low i had to look up to see rock bottom.”
“[...] pacing in the mind mangle of being someone on my way to die stopping to ask somebody else not to.”
“[...] ghosted by hope [...]”
“i’m fascinated with this idea of being high on life. i imagine people [...] snorting the lines airplanes leave in the sky.”
“i started driving towards a dead end-a cliff that had been my back-up plan if ever the pain got stronger than i am.”
“[...] to beg the air beneath this man to catch him, like a snowflake on the tongue, a tongue that will whisper, sweet sweet soul, heaven is in the other direction [...]”
wow, just,, wow.
why did I watch this on my break at work? I am completely undone
There goes my mascara, but oh my goodness this is absolutely beautiful.
Andrea Gibson performing is its own genre of poetry where the performance is giving their beautiful words competition because oh my God every single poem breaks my heart all over. SO MUCH LOVEEEE.
I dont know if there are enough ways i can say thank you for this poem.... so incredibly powerful and important and gentle and real and im never going to forget it. Ive been suicidal for years and only in the most recent year have i started to recover... in the midst of all this chaos and isolation right now, i began to slip. this poem caught me and grounded me and i dont know how to show how much this means to me.
I find myself always not wanting others to feel the pain I know so well. Sometimes when I find myself drowning in my depression I'm almost always trying to keep someone else from drowning. Much like her wanting some stranger not to die while on her way to end hers. this hit home. I need a hug.
I know you wrote this two months ago, but I'm sending you a hug now, Timothy.
@@tashilongthorp2295 hugs are like therapy without words and are often needed. I will always need a hug from time to time. Thank you for the virtual hug. It was needed.
you deserve all the hugs and I hope you're doing better x
It boggles my mind to know that you exist yet you've suffered so much being alone. You write beautiful things from the pain and that's what pains me. I love you for being here with us
Everytime i listen, I just smile and cry at the same time. Thank you Andrea.
I'm in tears. I thought about suicide many times, and really only recently admitted it to myself. The only thing stopping me was that I didn't want my best friend (who had attempted suicide a year earlier) to see my blood on the concrete. The worst thing about being suicidal is that the only people you might accept help from never seem to notice anything is wrong. At least in my experience. I haven't deeply thought about it in a while, but this hit hard. ❤️ Also, God does love you. He loves everyone, no matter what. There is nothing a person could do to change that fact.
On the days that the world doesn't make sense, you are the thing that gets me through. Thank you Andrea.
Every single poem of Andrea Gibson's I cry. Every single one evokes emotions deep inside me and I can relate to this one so much. Someone I loved so dearly took her life and I was thinking about taking mine and finding that out snapped me out of it.
"I was too ashamed to go back and get the stitches out in time..." The way their voice cracks at that line as if the memory is still so raw that it hurts to think about... I started sobbing and didn't stopped for the rest of the poem and a good while afterwards
The love of my life killed himself not too long ago. I myself suffer from mental health issues. I wish he had seen the light that you did. Seen anything that stopped him. I am so so glad you are still here. Your words are truly powerful. I sobbed for far longer than I'd like to admit. Thank you.
Hope you get your butterflies back soon and find happiness and peace in this crazy world we live in. I was almost at my breaking point not too long ago. I talked to my Dr, got meds, and started seeing a therapist. There are still days when it takes everything in me to escape my bed, to force myself to be around friends, take my kids to school, cook a meal, and other stuff that "normal" people do, but I am doing the best that I can. In the end, that is all that we can do is our best. If it isn't good enough for others, then "f" them. Part of dealing with depression and anxiety is learning to ignore the masses and accept yourself just the way you are!
Can I like this a million times!?
I was standing
I had to sit to listen to this poem
Wow...!
N I cried because I could relate
This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.
Andrea's poetry breaks my heart every time I hear/read it in both the worst way and best way possible.
I listened to this poem with tears streaming down my face. I just felt so emotional. Such a powerful poem and a wonderful reading. I have never heard such an emotive poem before. Yes poems have moved me but this poem really moved me in ways I cannot describe. A brilliant piece of poetry.
I'm fascinated by this idea of being high on life
Same.
Andrea Gibson is an incredible storyteller who can make each word sound like it holds something big, definitely something magical! ❤
Andreas writing is beautiful and intense. They are able to pull emotions I need to feel and give them definition and validation. Much love. Never stop writing.
I listen to this every day, sometimes several times. It has replaced meditation. This is what we are fighting for. What a beautiful human being. I stand with you in your pain. And in turning towards the light.
Wow, thank you
I heard this today while walking home from getting dinner and it made me stop in my tracks and listen. Today I learned it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to feel like nothing matters. But yet, it does matter. You matter. There’s so many people cheering you on that you may never even meet. You reading this. You matter. I matter. Everything and everyone matters.
This is one of those poems that's so beautiful is makes my heart ache
So glad you are still here to speak your truth to us all ❤
There is no better sentence here. Each and every line pulled at the deepest secrets of our hearts.
The amount of times I’ve cried listening to this…
I couldn't stop crying, thank you for your poetry. Thank you for being you.
You are so welcome
"the last, and I mean the last time, I tried to return myself to sender..." What beautiful victory
The best poet of our time.
poems are so much better with music in the back
Wow... what a story and what a beautiful way to tell it. Healing and joy and peace be with you Andrea and all to whom your story speaks❤
Please write a book. I love this. I love your poetry, your words have me a breathe of air I didn’t know I was looking for. Please please, publish a book.
Take care ❤️
Paige S They do have a book its called "Take Me With You" by Andrea Gibson
Jackson Unger thank you so much!! ❤️☺️☺️
They just released a recent book called Lord of the butterflies and they are about to go on tour: D
They also have a Spotify(I'm not sure apple music) profile w. more of their poetry! "Truce, Hey Galaxy" are two of my faves
They also have 3 other full books not mentioned here (pole dancing to gospel hymns, the madness vase, and pansy), as well as multiple CDs!
Holy Wow! you're vulnerability and pain and truth leaves me speechless.
Mesmerizing
Andrea, I am so happy you are here.
Th depth of this poetry that it expresses and a mind that is able to write such a poetry are so rare to find.
this made me cry. Beautiful words. Beautiful soul.
My slam poetry coach showed this to us a few months back and I had to find it again
"I still can’t look at without seeing the light going out in the tunnels of my best friends eyes
While she watched the doctors needle
Close the letter I’d sworn to never send"
This hit me hard. I'm trying.
i cant even count the amount of times ive listened to this poem... i just... yeah.
I keep coming back to this when I need a reason
I want to write something that conveys the emotion in this poem or the emotions I feel because God brought this to me, but all I can think of is WOW! Poetry is the art we all need. Thank You.
Her words are so powerful and her speaking is incredible. There's something so heartbreaking but beautiful in her words - like a butterfly with a broken wing.
sobbed . most beautiful.
She is and always will be a saint to me I love her and her totality
Woah. This absolutely broke me.
God.. 😭💔❤️ Andrea you are a gift to this world
They have felt pain. Their words hit me like a knife. Much love to your soul. ❣️
It always surprises me how Andrea’s poems come to me exactly when I need them. Thank you thank you thank you ♥️
I love you so much. Thank you Andrea
didn't expect to cry today, but here we are.
Videos like this keep me believe in God. And your right my faith gives me joy and hope.
Oh, Andrea, you've done it again, you angel-to-remind-us.
I felt this in my core. I've often wondered about butterflies, and the thought that perhaps mine are with someone else completely split me open with gratitude. If they need them I pray they are full of life. Much Love and Happiness to All 🖤
This is pure magic, pure feeling, pure pain, and pure ecstasy. I love it so much. Brought me to tears. As someone else suggested, please, please, publish a book. Thank you. I'm glad you both made it.
I always come back when I need it and it always makes me feel the same way it did the first time I heard it
Andrea Gibson Thank you!
I opened this thinking "I know Andrea, I love their work."
And I was not disappointed. My breath caught in my throat. I gasped and choked and wept and smiled, and for a moment, the kind of laughter that is the relief of suspense leapt out of me, a welcome surprise.
Thank you, again and again. You are art.
Right? I found Andrea on CZcams many years ago, exactly when I needed to hear the words to keep me alive another day. When we met at a writing workshop, I knew I had to say that, thank you for the year of keeping me alive another day. I know they hear that a lot, and I know it can take them from relaxed into working in an electric shock flash they don't want. But how do you express gratitude for helping you stay on the planet, alive? For teaching me how to stay even when rock bottom means having to look up? The next year I apologized for fangirling that dash to the car. I learned even more - that privacy and consent include allowing a 'famous' person to just be another person sharing the planet at the same time we do, watching other fans induce that painful electric muscle clench, and the aftermath of the dash to the car spread across a meangirl page. Now I know how. Buy the book. Preferably as merch at a show, where they are already in work mode and can take in the fangirling, sign the book, genuinely hug, and go backstage, out the back door to the safety of the car and the hotel room.
This poem is amazing, Andrea never disappoints.
I'm not an emotion person I listen to poems all the time but this one made me cry
They are so underrated, they're literally one of the best poets out there. Never fails to give me goose bumps
This never fails to make me cry.
Im crying I love this. 😭❤️
I hadn't sobbed this hard in a really long time. I don't think that I'm feeling that low--but this puts into sharp focus what it felt like to want to be gone. What it felt like to decide to stay. Thank you.
I love you, Andrea.
Amazing. Stunning.
Gosh I love her words.
"Heaven is the other way" was so good. The whole thing was so good
Thanks!
Oh goodness. Just wow. ❤❤❤❤
There are no words for how much I needed this tonight.
This gave me chills.
This is so heartmelting. I just... I just can't. This is so good.
I don't even have anything I can say. I can't see the keys too well through all these tears. Thank you Andrea. A wonderful and touching poem.
On The Mend
I am not hard like steel
no I am softer like stone
Tell me what is more real
lonely or being alone
Did the sky swallow the night
or did the day just descend
Andrea your gift of insight
has our hearts on the mend
Gratefully
Dancing Wolf
April 6, 2019
The music, this is so calming her voice the little gasps she takes. She is just bliss love her
For Andrea: In one of your poems you said you believe in people who still believed in God and even if you don’t believe in God too; I believe and I also believe in you! ❤️
Damn, I cried
I have goosebumps. Andrea Gibson is truly one of the greatest poets of this time.
I've heard there are fields, acres of lilacs like petal purple hearts blooming only to pull us through, and all you have to do is halt your name into a canyon and hear someone else's name echo back...
In the immortal words of the Indigo Girls: "take my advice live your own life". Those who want to end it all are exactly those we desperately need more of, I think.
Utterly beautiful. You are just. Beautiful.
I know why i cannot sleep tonight. This poem... I am goosebumped....
This is everything. Thank u for this.
You're so welcome!