Now is a great time to re-watch this video of Kristen Wiig reading the poetry of Suzanne Somers.
I’ve always been a re-reader and a re-watcher, but my instincts to seek comfort in the familiar have gotten even stronger lately. I don’t want any more surprises, so I’m spending more time with old friends, whose stories I’ve already heard. One of my favorite recent re-discoveries is this video of Kristen Wiig reading from Suzanne Somers’ poetry collection Touch Me.
I assumed this was one of those early (2009!) YouTube videos everyone had seen, but after an informal poll of my coworkers revealed that many of them were unfamiliar, I decided it was my duty to re-acquaint the Internet.
Wiig’s delivery is beautiful, but Somers’ poetry deserves much of the credit, and I say that with (almost) no snideness. I think Suzanne Somers knows this shit is funny. I don’t think you can write a poem about the universal yearning for love with an iconic dig at dog people without a sense of humor.
Just watch the video—you’ll see.
Jessie Gaynor
Jessie Gaynor is a senior editor at Lit Hub whose writing has appeared in McSweeney's, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, The Glow was published by Random House in 2023. You can buy it here.
