One great poem to read today: Tim Dlugos’s “Shelley Winters”
This April marks the 30th iteration of National Poetry Month, which was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. To celebrate, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending one great poem to read every (work) day of the month. We make no claim (except when we do) that these poems are the “best” poems in any category; they are simply poems we love. The only other thing they all have in common is that they are available to read for free online, so you can enjoy them along with us. The internet is still good for some things, after all. Today we recommend:
Tim Dlugos’s “Shelley Winters”
I’m never not banging the drum for funny poetry, which is probably why my deep love of “Shelley Winters” has endured for more than a decade. I first read it in grad school, where I felt like my desire to sneak humor into everything I wrote was not just wrong, but also humiliating. Unserious. So reading Tim Dlugos was a gift.
Dlugos died of AIDS-related complications in 1990, and much of his work deals directly with the horrors of the pandemic, but even in the most devastating of his poetry, there’s humor to be found. Reading his work, I feel like I can imagine having a fantastic, brilliant conversation about reality TV with him (complimentary). “Shelley Winters” is an ode to the actress, who he loves because of her flaws, which comprise the entirety of the poem. She is tacky, she never answers the questions when she appears on Dick Cavett (“You never remotely / answer the questions”), she is a wretched actress. The final line of the poem is a fitting wink to final line of Frank O’Hara’s iconic Lana Turner poem. This one has achieved icon status for me, too.
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.
