This Week’s Video: Poet Andrea Gibson’s ‘When Death Came to Visit’

“I used to believe I knew my purpose,

thought for sure I understood my calling.
But my calling, I now know, has always been
this: to parent my own departure.
To never punish the child for being who she is.

To keep a roof over the head of the truth.
To raise what will end me, with love.”

I just recently discovered the poet Andrea Gibson through an obituary I saw online. Their poetry, and their person, are extraodinary. This poem was written quite a while before they died, but they didn’t want it shared until death had made its final visit. It reignited my passion for poetry, and my desire to be a much better person than I will ever manage to be.

I’ll be adding a ‘This Week’s Video’ feature staring now!