Come See Me in the Good Light is a documentary about poet Andrea Gibson’s cancer diagnosis and their life with their partner Megan Falley as the couple dealt with life after the diagnosis.

Come See Me in the Good Light sounds depressing – another sad cancer story. But it is not like that. It’s a story about life and love and living every second you’re given.

Time Magazine has the background on the story. Friends approached the couple with director Ryan White to ask if they would be interested in letting a film crew into their lives. The answer was yes, and we are all better for being able to see it.

Andrea Gibson’s approach to spoken word poetry was always with the hope that it would reach someone, help someone. Their poetry is straight forward and, as they joke, uses the same five words rearranged in different ways for every poem. Joking aside, their poetry is tender, loving, always touching, and heartfelt. They wanted the film of their cancer journey to be the same.

We see the couple in their Colorado home with their three dogs. We share in their deep love for each other and for their friends. They write together, repair their mailbox again and again, talk everything out, and go to medical appointments. Every three weeks Gibson got a new test showing whether they were doing better or doing worse. During one of their stronger periods they were able to give a last spoken word poetry performance in the Paramount Theater in Denver to a sold out house.

One of Gibson’s poems was made into a song by Gibson, Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile. It plays during the end credits of the documentary.

You will find a list of Gibson’s books on andreagibson.org. It’s one thing to read their poems, but hearing Gibson speak it themselves is the best. YouTube has many performances.

This is a beautiful film about one of America’s greatest poets. It’s definitely worth seeing. It’s streaming on Apple TV+.